


Ignite

by cheshire372



Series: League Champs/Reader -- My Trash Series [1]
Category: League of Legends
Genre: Both of you, Eventual Romance, F/M, Gambling, Kickass Reader, M/M, Other relationships mentioned - Freeform, Self-Indulgent, Softie, Underage Drinking, fighting violence, get used to being called "girl", hella dialogue, if you live in the u.s., kinda angst, multiple POVs, near rape, new take on Sett, ooo bad language, seriously this is a commitment, sett's ma is a blessing, short-ish chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:28:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 44,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26201917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheshire372/pseuds/cheshire372
Summary: "I like to think I've been a pretty good person my whole life. I did well in school, made friends with other kids, helped my parents around the house when dad wasn't angry. Things haven't been easy, but I think I've pulled through rather nicely. But... I'm kinda getting tired of that. I'm tired of putting on a mask for everyone, pretending I don't deserve to be burning in hell for the anger and sadness that's been building up through the years. I want to share my pain with the world and punch life in the throat for the amount of lemons it's given me throughout my life. My brother always said I was a wildfire when I needed to be. And it's damn well time to ignite."Just before your eighteenth birthday, you found yourself running away from home. You had a single destination in mind: wherever your brother was. And it just so happened your brother currently had a job fighting in the local fighting pit. Not the best place to be for a young girl, but hey, what're you gonna do? Some help finds you when you need it most and that night, you decide to change the course of your life. For better or worse, it doesn't matter.
Relationships: Sett (League of Legends)/Reader
Series: League Champs/Reader -- My Trash Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1902808
Comments: 41
Kudos: 150





	1. Chapter 1

This was it. You were so damn done with everything. As you ran through the streets of your hometown in Ionia, you let the memories flood you. Curled in a ball in the bath, hiding beneath your clothes in the closet, crying on the rooftop of the house you had lived in your entire life. Your father in the other room throwing pictures into the wall, his angry scream bearing down on you at the kitchen table, his face and movements as he threw every meaningless thing you loved into the fire pit. Tears stung at your eyes and you squeezed them shut, legs and arms still pumping, still propelling you forward.

Nearly eighteen years of living in that horrible house and your answer hadn’t changed a bit. Whenever father got mad, you ran to your brother. Ashe was a good older brother though he wasn’t conventional in any sort of brotherly way. He wasn’t particularly strong, wasn’t particularly brave or manly or charismatic. But he was good at comforting you. Even if he couldn’t talk. Your brother had always been a gentle, willowy boy and that’s what made it all the more surprising when he told you he had gotten a job at the local fighting pit. 

That was where you ran now, past reputable markets and well lit streets, straight into the heart of your town’s ever growing criminal underworld. Running from one bad situation to another. No one ever said you weren’t self destructive in your sadness and self pity. Rough childhoods tended to do that to a person. 

Finally, you reached your destination. It was a Friday night so the pit was packed with all sorts of unsavory folks buying tickets and discussing tonight’s fights. A line was forming at the front entrance as men and women alike had their weapons collected at the door. You stood on your tiptoes to see inside to no avail. You sighed, knowing you’d likely have to buy a ticket to get inside and then sneak down to the rooms below to see Ashe. 

You gave some coins to the man at the till, barely even noticing the two big persons standing guard beside him. You barely noticed anything really, particularly not the group of men who nudged each other when you walked past to head down the narrower halls of the pit. So focused on your brother and the heavy feel to your coin purse, you never once let your steps falter. This was the night you made your choice, you told yourself. And nothing could stand in your way. 

~

“Hey, can you watch the booth for me?” 

Ryo was already out of his chair and moving towards the hall he’d seen that girl walk down when the question left his lips. He glanced back only to get an affirmative from the two men Sett had sent to guard the till, Zeb and Amos. 

Zeb nodded and slipped into the seat behind the till, Amos still grumbling about how hungry he was and the short notice the Boss had given him. Ryo turned away again, swearing to himself he’d suffer any consequence Sett would come up with if only he could soothe his worry. That girl had looked out of place the moment Ryo had seen her. She wasn’t accompanied by anyone, hadn’t a scrap of bloodlust on her face, hadn’t even seemed to have seen him. She looked lost but she headed into the pit with a surety in her step that Ryo couldn’t quite place. Either way, she was headed into dangerous territory and that was a group of pit fighters that had followed her in. 

Ryo had worked in the pit for years even before Sett had taken over and he liked to think he knew the habits of pit fighters well enough to know that girl was screwed if he didn’t arrive in time. But the underbelly of this place was vast and confusing. It could take him the whole night to search everywhere and he most certainly didn’t have that time. Judging by the pace at which she was walking, the fighters would have caught up to the girl just a little after she reached the end of the main hallway. And from there…

Muttering a curse under his breath, Ryo started down a narrow corridor with the speed and expression of someone with murder on their mind. And honestly, it sounded like a good idea right now. He wasn’t as skilled as his boss maybe, but Ryo could hold his own in a rumble. Still, there had been five fighters following her and Ryo definitely didn’t like those odds. So intimidation would have to be the go to for this encounter. 

Soon enough, sounds of shuffling feet and harsh whispers caught Ryo’s attention. So the scumbags really had dragged her down here. A secluded, dark area that no one traveled this early in the night. It had only been six or seven minutes since Ryo had left his post so nothing too bad couldn’t have happened yet. At least, he was really hoping nothing bad had happened. 

A small glow emanated from the end of the hallway where Ryo could just make out the five thugs crowded around what he presumed to be the girl. The sight of the light magic made Ryo’s normally agreeable face twist into a grimace. It wasn’t the magic itself that disgusted him, it was the fact that one of these bastards had been blessed with such a beautiful gift and he was using it for… this. 

“Come on, girly, don’t be like that,” one of the men hissed, his rough hands fumbling with something in the dim light. 

There was some sort of commotion a moment later and that same fighter stumbled backwards, hands over his crotch and doubled over in pain. But just as Ryo was smiling himself at the girl’s obvious refusal to be taken so lightly, a sharp smack echoed in the dark. 

Finally, Ryo was close enough to be heard, to be seen. His polished shoes clacking against the wooden floors had the fighters’ attention and the two daggers strapped to his hips even more so. “Gentlemen,” he said, pleasantness oozing from his voice. 

“Who’s there?” an ugly fighter with shark-like teeth rasped. 

Ryo stepped further into the light, ignoring Shark’s question. “Might I inquire what you fighters are doing with that young woman?” Ryo’s head tilted just slightly to peek around Shark and see the girl. Her shirt was bunched up at her neck, the first buttons to her pants just barely undone. Most frightening, however, were her eyes, desperate and pleading. One of the men’s hands were still clamped over her mouth, fingernails dirty and scrabbling. 

“Just having a bit of fun, mate,” Shark grinned. “No harm here.” 

Ryo pursed his lips. “Somehow I think she’d disagree. So here we come to a standstill, gentlemen.” Ryo clasped his hands and smiled at the lot. “I’m sure you know that the Boss here doesn’t take kindly to this sort of behavior in his pit and I’m doubly sure that by now some of you may recognize me as a close enforcer of his.” And to dispel any doubts on that, Ryo slipped a small card from his pocket, letting the gold insignia glint in the light. 

A pleased smile made its way onto Ryo’s mouth as he saw each fighter stand a little straighter. There were rumors about Sett’s calling card. Some people thought it was a bad omen -- some kind of mark that would ensure you encounter crossroads of wealth or death in the near future. Others thought it was some sort of dark magic that summoned the Boss or tied you to him in some way. The superstitions in this town never failed to entertain Ryo. 

“I’ll offer you a deal, gentlemen.” Ryo twisted the card once, twice, and on the third flip, it disappeared. “You can run now and pray you’re fast enough--” The fighters shifted uncomfortably. They didn’t like that option very much. “Or you can go see the Boss and pay your respects.” They liked that option even less. 

Hesitation and fear rippled through the group. Which was the right option they wondered. Ryo cracked his neck, making at least three of them flinch. Finally, one spoke up, the youngest of the bunch. He would see the Boss on the condition he didn’t get hurt. 

Ryo rolled his eyes. “Please. This is Sett’s pit. You should have thought of that before you tried hurting this girl. Really the question is if you’ll take your punishment now or later.” 

More breaths of fear passed as the men glanced at one another. Eventually they all decided they would take their chances with running, even the thug the girl had kicked in the balls. A pity. He even had the gall to still look angry. 

“I wish you the best of luck, gentlemen. But I do suggest you start running.” Ryo flashed them a grin, Sett’s calling card once again appearing between his fingers. “Now.” 

~

And just like that, you were dropped to the ground unceremoniously and your attackers ran. You scrambled to your feet quickly, smoothing your shirt down as your rescuer approached. 

“Thank you,” you said, voice low and eyes downcast. 

“Think nothing of it. My only regret is that I couldn’t come sooner.” 

You nodded, a hand wandering up to touch the place where that man had slapped you. It still stung and was probably all red. A surge of panic gripped your throat as the light that had illuminated the area before suddenly went out. Your hands flew back to find the wall behind you, eyes wide as the new fears of the night seized you again. 

But your rescuer’s voice shushed you soothingly and a low flame flickered to life in front of you. The man held a lighter in one hand, the other extending towards you. 

“Come on,” he said, “I’m not going to hurt you.”

His hand curled up in a beckoning motion, inviting you to take it. You had slid to the ground against the wall in fear of the onslaught of darkness, you realized. He was merely offering to help you up. With a clearing of your throat, you took his hand. 

“My name is Ryo,” he introduced himself. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

You gave him your name as well, thanking him again for saving you before taking your hand back and buttoning up your pants. You fought to keep the shake of rage and fear from your voice as you asked, “Will you really be able to find those men?”

The man named Ryo flashed you a grin, the white of his teeth slashing across his dark skin. “Don’t worry,” he assured with a wink, “Sett will make sure they get the beating of their lives.” 

“Sett,” you muttered, placing the name as your brother’s boss and owner of the pit. 

While your eyebrows were still furrowed in thought, however, Ryo pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from his pocket. “Hold this?” he asked, the lighter outstretched to you.

You quickly took it, eyes following Ryo’s hands as he quickly jotted a few things onto the paper. His handwriting was too messy to make out in the low light and Ryo smiled again as he caught you trying to peek. 

“Just some things to help the Boss find those crooks later,” he explained, returning the paper and pen to his pocket and taking the lighter back from you. “Now, follow me, please.”

“Where are we going? I have some business to--”

Ryo shook his head. “Any business done here is best done with the Boss.” He glanced over his shoulder at you, the glint in his eyes absolutely unreadable. “You’re in for a treat.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryo took you to meet with the Boss. How fun.

Ryo led you through the dark, narrow hallways into brighter, warmer ones. As he kept turning corners and picking hallways, you couldn’t help but notice the subtle changes in atmosphere the closer to power you got. The closer you walked to Sett’s office, the shinier the wooden floors, the richer the color of the wallpaper, the cleaner the smell, the quieter the air. There was a certain stiffness to the occasional people you saw passing by. There was a tense feeling all around so thick it was practically suffocating. You were familiar with this feeling. It was the horrible stillness of fear. 

But however frightened the people you passed or the occasional bloodstain you noticed covered by carpet, Ryo only got looser and more comfortable. His shoulders relaxed and you could even swear there was a bounce in his step. Kindred almighty, you were surprised he didn’t just start whistling. Still, if Ryo were this happy to see Sett, the Boss couldn’t be all bad. He couldn’t be like your father.

“Here we are,” Ryo practically sang when the two of you arrived at a set of huge, ornate doors. 

You didn’t move even when Ryo looked back at you. He stared at you and you stared at him. 

“I don’t want to go in there,” you told him. “I can deal with my business on my own.” 

The dark man raised an eyebrow, humming one long note to himself. “Don’t think the Boss will want someone sneaking around his pit unsupervised.” 

“How do you--”

A raised hand from Ryo was enough to silence you. “You obviously aren’t here to watch the fights and that means you’ll be wandering around when most security is focused on the crowds. I can’t have that and Sett would wring my neck if he knew that I knew you were here. So!” Ryo whirled around and knocked on the door. He glanced back to you only to wink and whisper conspiratorially, “We’re here to meet with Sett.”

Ryo opened the door to Sett’s room and you, for better or for worse, followed him in. 

~

Sett didn’t look up from the schedule of the night even when he heard the door to his office open. He took his time in slipping on his brass knuckles and flexing his fingers in them. The cold metal was always reassuring to him, even on nights when Ryo left his damn post during the most profitable time and came to bother him in his office with some stranger in tow. It really reassured him knowing he could beat that dumbass’s face to a pulp whenever he felt like it even if Ryo knew Sett’s barks of doing exactly that had no bite backing them. 

Finally, Sett turned around and huffed out a breath at the sight of a small girl behind his friend. “What have you got there, Ryo?” he asked. 

Ryo, for his part, didn’t answer right away. Instead, he stepped further into Sett’s office with a piece of paper in hand. “This girl was attacked earlier by some guys in the pit.”

A flash of anger had Sett snatching the paper from Ryo, eyes scanning the words. A slight snarl curled his lip as his eyes found his friend’s again. “And you didn’t bring them to me?” 

“There were five of them,” the dark man said pleasantly, hands held up in defense. “Just because you could’ve managed dragging them all the way down here doesn’t mean I could. Besides,” his head jerks back at the girl hovering near the door to Sett’s office, “she was there. No telling how that could have changed the fight.”

~

Sett seemed to have forgotten all about you while he was talking to Ryo but now the full weight of his gaze fell on you. Being stared down by the huge half-vastayan pit fighter wasn’t a particularly pleasant experience or one that you wanted to repeat anytime soon. Still, you didn’t let yourself wither under his gaze. 

“I don’t have time to waste on lost girls,” he growled to Ryo though his eyes were still fixed on you. 

From the corner of your vision, you saw Ryo turning, probably to ask you exactly why you were here but before he could, you perhaps foolishly decided to answer for yourself. “Good thing I’m not one,” you said evenly. You introduced yourself as it was the polite thing to do before stating very simply, “I’m here looking for my brother, Ashe.” 

Sett’s eyes narrowed at that and he looked to Ryo, a scowl burning across his face all at once. “Bring him here.” 

“What about _____?” Ryo asked, calling you by your name in an amused tone of voice that made it clear he was very much enjoying your interactions with the Boss so far. 

“She’ll stay here until you bring her brother back.” Sett glanced at you one more time before turning away to study something on his desk again. “I don’t need her causing any more trouble.” 

Ryo moved to leave the room, not quite out yet but you didn't hesitate. Your anger from the ordeal of today and the feeling of helplessness that constantly wanted to crush you fueled the words that came flying out of your mouth. “Trouble?” Your voice raised in volume at the sheer audacity he had in calling you troublesome. “It was your scumbags who started it.” 

A strangled sort of laugh escaped Ryo and he quickly darted out the door before Sett’s whirling eyes could find him. Indeed, Sett had whipped around so fast you were sure he was angry enough to forgo formalities and just pummel you. Instead, he simply growled out, “They weren’t ‘my’ anythings. They were newbies. And besides, a girl like you should know better than to wander into the wolf’s den.” 

Some sort of strange emotion flickered in Sett’s eyes the moment those words left his mouth. It was... regret? Fear? But in a moment it was gone, just like that. The Boss opened his mouth again but you cut him off. 

“You act like I had a choice.” 

Sett crossed his arms at that, eyeing you in a display of skepticism. “You sayin’ you didn’t? Why are you really here?” 

Your eyes slid away from his form and you likewise crossed your arms, posture stiff and rigid. “For my brother.”

“Not good enough.”

“It’s none of your business,” you tried.

The Boss slammed his hand on the table, making you jump as he took a seat on the edge of his desk. “Anything that compromises the coin generating from my pit is very much my business,” he said matter of factly. “So I ask again, why are you here?” 

His eyes were so cold and searching, so alien to you that you whirled around, unable to face him any longer. “I don’t want to say it,” you yelled, frustrated and torn.

He stole your words and tone of voice from earlier. "You act like I'm supposed to care."

Finally, everything came crashing down on you, a tidal wave of rage, sorrow, helplessness, and hate. "I ran away from home, okay?" Through your choking, angry words, you didn't hear the door open behind you, didn't hear Ryo freeze at the scene inside or your brother nervously waiting behind him. "My father started shouting and throwing things around and I can't be at home when he's like that!"

You couldn't look up as Sett's eyes flickered to Ryo behind you, his friend taking it as his cue to enter. Your cheeks flushed from the embarrassment of revealing your situation to the pit boss and the frustrated tears that were starting to leak out of your eyes shamed you even further. 

Ashe crossed the room to stand next to you, waiting silently for what the Boss wanted to be done. Ryo similarly waited for instructions, his eyes flickering between you and Sett.

~

Kindred almighty, Sett hated seeing women cry. His ma had taught him to treat women with respect. She used to box his ears if ever she found out he made a girl cry. But now this one was just… crying on her own. It wasn't his fault, the Boss assured himself. Still, he felt the need to look over his shoulder for the purple hair of his mom or her stern look of disapproval. 

Jaw clenched, Sett tore his gaze away from her, focusing instead on her mute brother. The kid was an interesting fighter and that was a fact. He was more quick than strong, using tactics and tricks to one-up his opponent. And he also had some fights tonight, meaning he couldn't be tasked with looking over her. An angry breath blew out of Sett's nose as he tried to figure out what could be done. Ashe slept in the rooms beneath the pit but he couldn't have his sister there. Not with her stupid feminine wiles.

The Vastayan part of Sett wanted him to be nice. He wanted to be able to ensure the girl's safety and give her the refuge she so obviously needed. So Sett made his decision and he wasn't particularly happy about it.

"She'll have to stay here until something else can be arranged," he said gruffly.

Ryo voiced his question aloud, doubtful that that was what the Boss really wanted. "In the pit?"

"In my office." 

Sett's eyes snapped over to the girl now, golden and blazing, just knowing she was about to challenge him. "And you better not complain about it," he snapped. "A girl with daddy issues ain't my top priority right now and frankly, you're a handful." 

Her chin raised defiantly. "Because I'm not just going to roll over for you?"

Sett's ears twitched as he heard Ryo snort. He shot his friend a look, making a promise to himself he'd pummel him later. But right now the Boss crossed the room to loom over you, his body dwarfing your own. Ashe twitched next to his sister, obviously wanting to protect her but knowing he shouldn't cross the Boss. 

"I'm not some charity," Sett snarled. 

"And I'm not some charity case," she retorted. 

Sett let his eyes roam over her body obviously, starting from her shoes and ending on her face. She really was a bit of a mess. Her hair was wind blown as if she had run all the way here, her shoes scuffed and wet from the rain that had recently fallen. Her shirt was cut just a bit on the side and probably on the back -- where those scumbags held her at knifepoint no doubt. Her cheek had a lingering red mark, like she had been hit very hard, very recently. The more he looked at the girl, the angrier he got. His ma would scold him for sure if ever she found out he didn't offer his help to someone so desperately in need. Finally, Sett spoke. His mind was already made up. He would help her, but it didn't mean he couldn't push her buttons a little more.

"The tear tracks down your face say otherwise." 

~

At those words, the rage that had boiled your blood before suddenly vanished, causing a heavy exhaustion to set in. Your head bowed and your eyes fled to the floor. You didn't rise to meet that challenge. It didn't seem one you could refute. 

Maybe you really were just a charity case. You had come running to your brother like you always did when father was in a mood. You weren't strong enough to survive on your own, weren't driven enough to make your life better, were too pathetic to even --

Stop.

A gentle touch on your arm brought you out of your spiral downwards. You glanced over at Ashe and as soon as the touch had come, it was gone. You knew it meant a lot for him to touch you and you really did appreciate the gesture. But Sett hadn’t noticed any of this, instead having brushed past you the moment you lowered your head in submission. Maybe this whole conversation would have gone smoother if you had just kept your mouth shut from the beginning. 

The Boss turned back just at the door, looking first to Ashe. “You’ve got fights tonight,” he reminded him. And to Ryo he said, “take her to the back room.” Then he was gone, slipping through the door to do whatever the hell pit bosses did during business hours.

Ashe gave you a small, knowing smile as if saying “congrats on surviving your first encounter with the Boss.” 

You returned the gesture, wishing him luck in his battles. The moment he was out the door, however, your grin fell. 

A low whistle came from behind, reminding you that Ryo was still in the room. 

“In all my time knowing Sett,” he started, “I have never once seen anyone talk back to the Boss like that and make it out with their pretty faces intact.”

Your sudden energy drain left you without the boost you needed to comment on how Ryo looked fine despite his obvious habit of deriving joy from his boss’s grievances. “Talking back is how conversations work,” you instead muttered. “Not my fault he seems to have a phobia of them.”

Ryo barked out a laugh at that, saying very decidedly, “I like you. You’re alright.” But before you could even blink your surprise at his sudden approval, Ryo had already crossed the room to some door hidden in the corner of Sett’s office. The door leading to the Boss’s ‘back room’ he had mentioned. Ryo waved you over, a childlike excitement gleaming in his mischievous eyes. “Come on, come on, you’ve gotta see this. It’s not everyday I get to show someone the back room.”

Eyebrows furrowed and wary, you shuffled over to stand next to the Boss’s right hand man, wondering what this shift in demeanor was for. The door before you was plain and wooden, the kind of door you’d expect to see anywhere. There didn’t seem anything special about it. 

But hoo boy did the cover betray the book on this one. 

‘Back room’ was a funny name for this huge, lavish bedroom that looked so expensive it almost hurt to see. Literally everything here would probably sell for more money than you’d ever seen in your entire life. Furniture littered the room, all made of expensive fabrics and seated in backings of gold or polished wood. A round wooden table stood proudly near the door, a tasteful flower arrangement in a vase placed in its center. Sett’s four poster bed was unsurprisingly huge with sheer curtains draping down from the frame above, pulled closed for when he was away. There was a dressing screen in the corner next to a large, full length mirror which you could just imagine the Boss posing in front of. The wardrobe where you imagined he kept all of his coats and pants (no shirts of course, that man doesn’t seem to own anything with sleeves) was positioned just nearby. 

But despite the lavishness of everything, it still felt a bit… distant. Everything was clean and immaculate. Like everything was temporary. Like Sett didn’t expect to stay here long or didn’t stay here at all. Of course that didn’t mean the room didn’t seem at least a little personalized -- the Boss had definitely left his mark in his time here. The whole room shared his color scheme, all reds and golds and purples. The ceiling above was hardly visible at all, covered in sheets of black chiffon hanging and overlapping like some crazy canopy. Literally the candle lit chandeliers were right next to them and if that blatant fire hazard didn’t scream Sett then you weren’t sure what did.

After you were sure you’d seen everything and hadn’t missed even a bit, you whirled on Ryo, pointing at all the different things in awe and disbelief, unable to speak. 

He just laughed and shrugged. “What can I say? The Boss has expensive tastes.” 

“And exactly how am I supposed to stay here?” 

“Very carefully and quietly. I suggest taking that armchair in the corner. It’s old-ish, out of the way, and Sett doesn’t use it much.” 

You recalled Ryo’s amusement from before when you argued with Sett and asked dryly, “Is that an actual piece of advice or do you just want to see me and Sett fight again?” 

The easygoing man wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “Can’t it be both?” 

With a slight huff of annoyance, you started to march over to the armchair before freezing and looking down at your shoes in horror. “Oh shit.” They’re dirty. They’re dirty and you’re standing on the Boss’s nice red carpet. “Oh shit did I just do that?”

Ryo examined the places where you stomped and told you it’d be fine. “Though you’ll probably want to take them off for the night and consider either cleaning them or getting new ones.” 

“This pit is going to be the end of me,” you sighed.

But Ryo shook his head. “Nah. You survived your home so you can’t afford to die here.” He went quiet for a moment while you examined your feet, shoes now off and held in one hand. With only a hint of hesitation in his voice, Ryo asked why you didn’t rise to meet Sett’s last challenge.

Your lips pulled into a tight line as you thought it over. “I was just tired,” you decided to tell him. It was part of the truth at the very least. “I wasn’t getting anywhere just arguing with him and he’s too much of a ‘man,’” you do the air quotes thing, “to back down himself.” 

Ryo gave his pleasant smile. “Of course. Have a good night, then. But,” he paused just in front of the door, a neutral expression trying and failing to hide the glee in his eyes as he said, “do stay off the bed lest Sett gets the wrong idea and decides to show you how much of a ‘man’ he really is.” 

And before you had time to throw something at him, Ryo was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> daddy issues daddy issues daddy issues
> 
> Get ready for maybe a different kind of Sett, I guess.


	3. Chapter 3

Ryo chuckled to himself as he heard something hit the other side of the door to Sett’s bedroom. She was so easy to tease and so fun to rile up. It was a real treat to watch her argue with Sett. A real treasure they stumbled upon for sure. He sure hoped she stuck around longer. 

And it was with that thought that Sett’s right hand man locked the door behind him. Even if Ryo liked the girl, it didn’t mean he wasn’t above some safety precautions. He knew this was what the Boss wanted and he was happy to oblige. Besides, it was for her safety too. Sett had made his entrance in the pit late and that would let people know something was up. No one should be stupid enough to try the lock on Sett’s door, but just in case, Ryo told himself. Just in case.

Anyways, there were more pressing and entertaining things to think about. Like how she hadn’t risen to meet Sett’s challenge back there. The Boss had pointed out her tears and she completely wilted. She had lied to him. It was more than just exhaustion, Ryo knew. But he also knew the situation she’d come from and didn’t press further. Abuse in the house like that would of course lead to some self esteem issues. She must have imagined herself as something pathetic at some point and Sett bringing it up like that would only prove it to her. 

But replaying that scene in his mind, her lie wasn’t the only thing interesting in that moment. No one else had caught it, but Ryo had definitely seen a frown on Sett’s face when the girl backed down from his challenge. Sett probably knew something was wrong too but there was a hint of disappointment in the way he looked at her. The Boss immediately brushed whatever he was feeling off though and headed to the arena, just as Ryo was doing now. 

It was an absolutely stupid idea to bring it up to him now, but Ryo was so curious. Was Sett as intrigued by the girl as Ryo hoped he might be? Would Sett finally dispel his distrust of women -- understandable though it may be -- and let himself enjoy them in ways other than the physical? Ryo grinned to himself. The Boss was supposed to be this big bad pit lord who showed no mercy and took as much coin and women as he could. The coin bit was absolutely true but Ryo had to laugh at the second. Sett used most women like anyone else: as a means to an end. If sleeping with them provided some new benefit to the pit and his wallet, the Boss would gladly do so. But Ryo had never seen him bring home a girl unprompted or flirt with anyone that wouldn’t make him even richer at the end of the day. It was probably something to do with his childhood but Ryo couldn’t help but think of Sett as -- 

“What the hell are you grinning for?” 

A child when it came to the ways of love. 

“Good to see you too, Boss,” Ryo greeted Sett cheerfully. He hadn’t realized he was in the arena and at the Boss’s chair already. He wondered if he had stood there too long and made Sett just come out and greet him. Or if he was just in a bad mood and was snapping at anything and everything.

Either way, before Sett could lose his patience, Ryo gave him the updates he needed. “She’s settled in for the night and everything’s tidy. I’ll return to the till now unless you want me to do anything else.”

Sett waved him away, eyes focused on the fight below. No doubt he would return to keeping an eye on bets and watching the matches like he does every night. Ryo hoped if anything would shake the Boss from his normal, stable routine, it would be this girl of hellfire and rage.

~

If there were any things Sett was proud of knowing he could do, it was his ability to provide for his mama, give beat downs to the local lowlifes, and keep an eye on his business at all times. Noxians might have created the fighting pits, but Sett had damn sure perfected them. There wasn't a single thing happening in his pit that Sett didn't know about. Everyone reported to Ryo and Ryo reported to him. More than that, Sett had his own ways of hearing secrets and seeing the dirty things people do in the dark. But damn, he wished he’d heard about this sooner.

Apparently, something had changed in the schedule last minute. Instead of fighting a normal opponent, Ashe was set up against one of the reigning favorites of Sett’s pit. If that boy didn’t make it out alive, Sett wasn’t sure how the hell he was supposed to tell his sister she had lost all of her family and sense of normalcy in one night. But Sett would never rig a match in anyone’s favor so he just watched the arena and focused on the things he could control at the moment. 

Ryo had said the girl was settled and he would be returning to his post. That meant the exchange of money and taking of bets would go smoother tonight. This was good because a lot of money would be flowing through the till. The new match of the night -- despite Sett’s frustration at not having authorized it -- would generate a lot of coin. Grips got a lot looser on wallets whenever someone challenged a champ and that meant more profit for the pit. People loved to gamble on the fighters’ livelihoods and lives in these sort of match ups. If Ashe won this fight, he’d be taking one step closer to the fame and wealth associated with being a pit champion. But that was if the kid could win.

The announcer’s call of Ashe’s stage name drew Sett’s attention back to the present. Saber took to the floor with his dramatic sweep of a bow, much to the audience’s delight. Sett didn’t really care for the kid’s theatrics, but since he didn’t have a voice to speak for himself and he hadn’t lost a single match yet, the flair was understandable. Besides, the crowd loved Saber, particularly the ladies. He was a young boy with a pretty face that couldn’t talk back. Just what the women who frequented this pit liked. And since Sett didn’t provide many other things that guaranteed their attention… well, it would be a big loss to his coffers if the kid died tonight. 

It was honestly pretty impressive the meekness Ashe retained even after becoming so popular in the pit. By now, most guys let the praise go to their heads, swelling their egos too big to control and forcing Sett’s hand into crushing them. But now knowing the situation Ashe had come from, it made sense. Sett’s pa had run out on him, turning him into the brute with daddy issues he was now. Ashe’s dad was an abusive bastard, making him into the timid boy he was now. Only problem with that theory was his sister. She was fiery and argumentative, not the kind of person one would expect to take shit from crappy fathers. She seemed like she could handle herself fine. Hell, she’d almost been raped tonight and yet she stood tall in front of the Boss, chin raised to meet all of his challenges. Well, almost all of them. 

Sett forced his head to clear as the pit officer’s scarf flew through the air. He’d figure her out later if she was still a problem then. For now, there was money to be made and heads to see crushed. 

~

How many hours had passed since Ryo had left the room? How many times had you traced the same seam on the armchair waiting for something, anything to happen? Your body was exhausted but your mind was alert, ready. And it would not shut up. 

As the day’s events replayed in your mind, you started to tear up. But no, you wouldn’t cry anymore. You refused to. You thought of those horrible men who had almost done terrible things to you. You remembered the feeling of their hands on your skin, the cold metal of a knife pressing into your back. You remembered the way your dad had come home today, slamming the front door shut and throwing his bag on the ground. He banged around the house, hitting the walls so hard it made the ceiling rattle above you. You tried to speak up, tried to say hello and just follow the advice your friends had given you. You tried to love your father, you really did. But he just shouted and screamed and scared you. But those were events from the past, weren’t they? That hadn’t happened today. No, today you just ran out of the house. As soon as he started screaming, you were gone. 

The time for trying to love him was gone. The time for being sad and angry had passed already. You tried to remember when you stopped thinking of him as your father. It wasn’t an exact moment, you knew -- it had been a gradual acknowledgement over time. And after that was decided, you had started becoming bolder. You stopped crying when he was upset. You stopped feeling any emotion at all. You had been numb for a while and then angry. Why was he like this? Why was everything so horrible? You wanted only to be angry at him but the sadness always crept in. Why couldn’t he be a better father? Why did mother have to die?

But that was it. You shot up from your curled position on the armchair and stormed over to the bathroom door you had seen earlier. It wasn’t easy with Sett’s room being pitch black and every piece of furniture seeming intent on stubbing your toes or jamming your fingers. Your blood was boiling red hot by the time you stumbled into the bathroom and the magic of the room brought the candles to life. Glaring at yourself in the mirror, you repeated these words to yourself:

I am more than them.

Ten times, thirty, fifty -- hell, why not shoot for a hundred? Why not say it a thousand times until those words were carved into your heart? Self pity made for poor bricks and after nearly eighteen years of living in fear and sorrow, you were done falling apart and piecing yourself back together with those same shitty, shitty bricks. 

“I’m done with this,” you muttered to yourself. “My father’s rage doesn’t affect me.” You pounded a fist on the mirror. “My mother’s death doesn’t define me.” You strode to the center of the bedroom. “I’m more than them.” A cruel, curved smile rising on your face, you walked over to the door to the outside and gripped the handle. 

“I’m more than this.” 

It was supposed to be an epic moment of you flinging open the door and taking your first few steps into a new life with a new you but when you twisted the doorknob, well… it didn’t budge. A frown quickly overtook your face and you tried again, thinking maybe the stupid thing was just stubborn but no, it wasn’t twisting. It was locked. The stupid door was locked. 

Of course it was locked. The Boss didn’t want any trouble from you. But boy did you want trouble. You wanted it more than ever now that you had this whole self discovering moment and you were gonna do something really cool and then Sett ruined your whole dramatic scene with a stupid locked door. 

You had been walking to the door prepared to burn your house down. You had been ready to neuter those bastards who had tried to rape you. You wanted to hit something, tear something apart, smash it to smithereens, anything. But the door was locked and Sett’s bedroom was too expensive to destroy. 

“Stupid, big, dumb oaf,” you cursed under your breath, still trying and not succeeding at getting the door open. “Him and his dumb tastes and… and trust issues.” 

Then the metallic clink of a key entering a keyhole and the knob twisted under your hand, the door creaking open and lo and behold, the Boss was finished with the night and he had definitely heard you. Your face burned bright as he swept into the room and towered over you, golden eyes glowing in the dim light. 

“You’re in a mood,” was all he had to say about it. “Are you done crying?”

“Yes,” you snapped. “I’m done crying and done with being good.”

“Hmm. How original.” 

Sett moved past you to his bathroom door, stripping off his gloves as he went. You followed him there, angry that he wasn’t listening to you, wasn’t taking your decision seriously. 

“I’m serious,” you said. “I don’t know what your problem is, but I’m pissed and I want a better life than this.” 

The Boss tossed his gloves onto a small loveseat and started to take off his coat, laying it carefully on the back of the chair. You continued. 

“I don’t know where you came from, but you took in my brother and now he looks up to you.” Your short legs struggled to keep up with Sett’s long strides back and forth across the room. “That means you can’t be all that bad,” you offered. 

But it was clear this asshole wasn’t giving any thought to what you were saying. Rage once again boiled your blood and you found yourself doing something very stupid indeed. You gritted your teeth and moved even faster to cut in front of him. The Boss paused mid step to keep from running over you and you glared daggers up at him, arms akimbo and legs shoulder width apart. You finished what you wanted to say with particular gusto, glad to finally have his attention. “Even if you are annoying as hell.”

Sett snorted at that, completely brushing past you and entering the bathroom. 

He was about to shut the door in your face when you blurted out, “hire me!”

~ 

What the actual hell?

Sett let the door creak open again, the light from the bathroom spilling over the girl and making her wince. Who the hell did this girl think she was, insulting him and then immediately after asking for a job? If it were anyone else, the Boss would have given them a beating right then and there for their insolence alone. But for some reason the vastayan part of him wanted to take pity on this random girl and listen to what she had to say. 

The panic in her voice was genuine just then, the confidence she’d had before melting away in Sett’s absolute indifference. Plenty of women before her had claimed to be “done with being good.” They’d all wanted to slum it with the Boss and have fun in his pit. He’d honestly figured her just another one, but never before had any of them actually asked for a place here.

Her face was a mask of embarrassment even as she cleared her throat and said again, “hire me. Give me a place in your pit.”

That was submission in her eyes again, shame in the way she hung her head. Sett didn’t like to see it in her.

He let the door swing completely open and got a good look at her, examining her, trying to figure out what angle she was playing at. She was being real here, raw and pleading. She had just spent the entire night alone in his bedroom, likely doing nothing but thinking. Her eyes had blazed with defiance and certainty when he had first entered, a flame that had quickly gone out after his repeated acts of brushing her off. So the girl had had a big epiphany while she was alone and was trying to prove her conviction to herself by first proving it to another person. Well, Sett had kinda crushed that then. 

But maybe there was still time to stoke the embers of the flame. 

Sett leaned against the door frame, arms crossed over his bare chest and letting his eyes run up and down her. “I prefer to take ex-fighters,” he drawled. “Or at least people who I know can take a punch.”

“Then I’ll fight in the pit.” 

“I doubt it’d be a very interesting match. You’d last what? Maybe ten seconds?” Sett stretched his arms, basking in the anger so obviously rising in her by the second. “Short fights ain’t good for business.” 

“I’d last longer if given the chance to train.”

"You expect me to waste my time on that?” Sett scoffed. “I don't even know you."

"No," she retorted, "but you know my brother. He doesn't seem strong either but he's damn smart and light on his feet. He's got hidden depths and who's to say I don't too?"

A neutral expression settled on the Boss's face as he thought it over. He didn't have much to lose in this endeavor except perhaps time. And even then, it'd only be a little bit of his own. She had her brother to train with and it would be interesting to see how she might grow in this new environment. Did Sett feel guilty about letting this girl 'dirty' herself with the blood and sand of the pit? Not even a little. Not even his vastayan side could convince him to let this damaged girl go. Sett had been a bit self destructive when he first started out too and he'd turned that rage and hate into success. Maybe she could too. 

“We’ll spar tomorrow afternoon in the pit,” he conceded. And before she had a chance to ask for an earlier time, he said, “I’ve got stuff to do in the morning.” Not official pit business but rather a visit with his ma. It’d been a while since he’d called by and Sett had more money to give her.

Her fists clenched in what Sett could only assume to be defiance and his hand darted out to grab her chin, lifting her face so she was looking him square in the eyes. That was definitely fire burning in them, fire and probably something akin to hate. A smirk quirked up the corners of his lips. Imagine that. 

“I don’t mind attitude in the privacy of this room or my office,” he told her. “I get enough of that from Ryo on a day to day basis.” Sett’s grip tightened ever so slightly in contrast to the light tone of voice he was using before. “But don’t you ever think about disrespecting me in front of others.”

Despite the Boss’s impressive height and build and the fact that she was literally mere inches away from him, the girl still managed to respond without fear. “Is this for your pride or your position?”

She thought him some primping peacock who needed others to smooth his feathers. Sett might have laughed if her idea of him didn’t piss him off so much. But he reigned in his temper, not wanting to spoil his good mood from a night having gone well and the prospect of seeing his ma in the morning. 

“Nobody can question my authority as boss.” He tapped the bottom of her chin once before letting go, saying, “I don’t want to cave your pretty face in so I suggest you start holding that sharp tongue of yours.” 

Her expression at that was worth every bit of rage she had stirred in him before. She looked positively disgusted at the idea of having to hold her tongue for him, especially when Sett smirked and added on, “you can talk to me like that when you’ve grown some.” 

The Boss stretched a final time in front of her red face and there was no doubt she hated the fact that she was flushing. “For now, feel free to take the bed.” She looked like she was about to protest so Sett turned back into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He spoke louder to be heard through the wood, “Just try not to ruin the sheets. They’re Ionian silk and they’re more expensive than your whole house.” 

“Where are you going to sleep?” she called, a thump against the door implying she was now leaning against it.

“My office.” Sett began shucking off the rest of his clothes and laid them carefully on the bathroom counter. “Doubt you’d have a very restful night if I were in the same room.”

Her voice was distinctly grumbling as she asked, “Can I sleep there instead? I don’t exactly fancy the idea of beginning my career here with a huge debt.” 

The sound of running water filled the room and Sett stepped into the shower. “That sure of yourself, huh?” 

Silence was the only answer for a while and the Boss was about to surrender himself completely to the water when a small request came from behind the door, a sharp turn from the verbal jousting from before. It was so quiet and meek, like a little kid tentatively asking their older sibling,

“Can I shower after you?”

Sett laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> angst angst angst angst time for angst 
> 
> If this one's writing seems a bit off, I attribute it to the fact that a majority of it was characters thinking to themselves. I tend to write thoughts as they come to me, jumbled and flowing as they are. Also, Sett is really coming through here. He's a pit boss so he's always got a ton of things running through his mind. He reads people and actually uses his brain a lot in order to keep everything running smoothly. I think he's a lot more quick thinking than people give him credit for and just likes to turn off his brain when it comes to fighting. Because we've all been there. Anyways, that's my explanation for this.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You know I'll win."  
> "And you know I'll fight."

Turned out you didn’t sleep well last night despite Sett giving you the bedroom. You had just barely brushed your fingertips against his fine bed sheets and immediately nope’d out of there, reclaiming your spot on the armchair. You considered letting the Boss know you wouldn’t be sleeping on the bed at all but ultimately decided not to. He was honestly such an ass, you didn’t know why a nice guy like Ryo put up with him. 

Well, they were actually both pretty awful in their teasing and stupid comments. But at least Ryo was pleasant in other ways. He didn’t threaten to cave in your skull or flex or purposely brush you off or condescend to you or grab your chin or strut about half naked. What were you talking about again? You looked up at yourself in the mirror and blinked slowly. 

Oh yeah, the bags under your eyes. The crick in your neck and the ache in your stomach. You were hungry from the night before, not having eaten dinner and all but having skipped lunch. The night was a long and uncomfortable one, curled up on the armchair as you were. No blanket to ward off the chilly air and your neck had been bent at an unnatural angle whenever you could get a few winks of sleep in. But Sett was just outside the bedroom door and you’d be damned if you let him know you slept terribly last night. He’d probably fake surprise, asking how you got a bad night’s sleep in his luxurious room while he was stuck in the office. And what would you have to say for yourself? You were too scared to sleep on his bed. 

You scowled and combed your fingers through your hair. He had yet to knock on the door to the bedroom and the morning light was already streaming through the windows. That was another thing about his stupid room. One wall was almost entirely made up of floor to ceiling windows with a perfect view of your hometown beyond. The curtains hadn't been drawn all the way so a piercing beam of sunlight had managed to sneak in and prevent you from clinging to what last dregs of sleep you had. Again, you lost track of your train of thought and a little yank on your hair pulled you back to your senses. 

Sett. That's right. When was he gonna come in and spoil your already rotten mood? The more time that passed, the more you were wondering if Sett needed to get clothes from this room at all. Honestly maybe not. Maybe he had a change of clothes in his office desk or something. So… you didn’t have to sit around for him or anything. 

Huh.

Your hair as straightened as possible and your face freshly washed, you entered Sett’s bedroom once more, ready to face the day. The sun had risen considerably higher in the time you were in the bathroom, the room now cast in a honeyed glow. There were a hell of a lot more things you noticed in the morning light, but nothing caught your attention quite like the Boss’s wardrobe. 

You wondered what could be in there, if you could change out of your grubby clothes from last night. But what would happen if the Boss found out about your trespass? You were in his good graces now but that could change any moment, really. You didn’t know what had happened to land you in that favorable position in the first place. As far as you could remember, you’d been an annoying ass to him too, invading the pit and asking for a job. 

Sett kinda had been nice. He had given you a safe place to stay until things got figured out. He was rude about it, sure, but that’s probably just how he was with people. And you had acted like a child, speaking ungratefully and… and being just as bad as him. That had to change too. You wouldn’t roll over for Sett or anything like that, but… he at least deserved some respect. 

A knock at your door shook you from your thoughts and you quickly said, “come in.”

Ryo popped his head, a grin already forming on his face as he caught sight of you. You quickly stepped away from Sett’s wardrobe and walked to the middle of the room to greet the man.

“You survived the night,” Ryo exclaimed in congratulatory fashion. “How’d you sleep?”

“Not the best,” you admitted, one hand wandering up to hold your neck.

“I’m guessing you slept on the armchair?”

Your grimace was answer enough to that.

“Well,” Ryo said, “Sett’s already set (ha) out for the day. I heard that you’ve got a date with him this afternoon.”

Date? Your body seized up in rejection at the very thought but then you remembered who you were dealing with and collected yourself. You squinted sideways at Ryo, making a face that told him you knew he was full of shit but answered, “If that’s what you want to call it.”

The glinting mischief in Ryo’s eyes danced as he laughed. He really did like you, it seemed. And you were glad for it. You liked him too, you decided. 

“Now if we’re done with that mess, I’d like to see my brother.”

Ryo bowed deeply. “But of course, my dear. Follow me.”

A smile pulled at your lips as you and Ryo walked through the halls of the pit. You would get your chance to prove something to Sett today and earn a spot here. The thought of taking on the Boss didn’t scare you nearly as much as it should have. Your thoughts on it were along the lines of “screw death and safety. I’m here for a good time, not a long time.” And if you got to punch the Boss in the face on the way out, that was a pretty solid win in your books. 

The walk to the fighters’ rooms beneath the pit wasn’t one you were used to, but a few things were becoming increasingly familiar. A painting on the wall of a particularly gory scene, an ugly set of curtains covering nothing but a few bullet holes in the wall, the smashed bust of who you could only assume to be the previous pit boss, etc. Ashe had brought you down here exactly twice in all of his time here and all of your visits and had always stayed close to your side. He feared for your safety more than anything, insisting that the two of you meet far away from the barracks when it could be helped. In the bad times when you ran from home and arrived in the pit unannounced, Ashe had no choice but to bring you to the rooms, keeping you hidden from sight in his tiny bed in the corner. 

And look at you now. Willingly walking into the beast’s maw beside a notorious pit boss’s right hand man. You and Ashe hadn’t had a chance to speak last night so he wasn’t aware of your plans to work here. You weren’t sure if he would approve. You were pretty sure he would in fact disapprove. But the time for protection and comfort was over. Right now, you just wanted to beat the crap out of a half-vastayan pit boss. And god dang it if it wasn’t his darn diddly duty to help you do it. 

You caught sight of Ashe at the end of the hallway and couldn’t contain yourself. A big grin split your face and you ran over, shouting his name so he had just enough time to turn and catch you in his arms. 

After a warm embrace you heard Ryo coo, “Isn’t this just the sweetest?”

The both of you looked over to see Sett’s right hand man clasping his hands under his chin, eyes comically large and sparkling. You rolled your eyes at his teasing and were surprised to catch sight of Ashe sticking his tongue out at Ryo. Any sort of response like that was rather rare from your brother. You grinned and flicked Ashe on his nose, bringing his attention back to you.

“Don’t be mad at me, Ashe--”

His eyes narrowed at that and you could already hear his scolding words. Honestly never a good start to any conversation.

“But I kinda struck a sort of deal with the Boss. I’m probably gonna be fighting in the pit for a while.”

Silence.

“We’ll be working at the same place though.” 

Ryo twisted his smile downwards best he could and Ashe’s hair hung low over his eyes at this angle. You did little jazz hands to lighten the mood. 

“Won’t that be fun?”

Ashe inhaled deeply through his nose and brought his hands up as if in prayer. But you knew that pose. You were already wincing even as those closed hands came down sharply on your head, effectively bonking you and, as your brother liked to claim, “knocking some sense into you.” 

But your opinion on the matter hadn’t changed. Ryo was stifling his laughter behind you and Ashe had his eyes closed, chin up, as if doing some kind of penance for your sins. You pulled at your brother’s sleeves in a childish manner, repeating that you were serious.

“The deal’s already been made and there’s no way I’m backing out now,” you whined.

Ashe nodded along like a sage, knowing your stubborn nature through his own personal annoyance. “But why should I help you?” he signed, eyebrows raised in exaggerated question. 

You looked back to Ryo. Ryo shrugged. You looked back at Ashe. You shrugged. 

“Because you’ll get to see me knock Sett on his ass?”

That’s what got Ashe’s attention. A corner of his mouth quirked up in a smile and he gestured for you and Ryo to follow him further into his room. The furnishing was sparse and you hardly thought it was worthy of being called a room. It was more like a cubby hole what with the side and back walls intact but no front to it, just an open space into the hallway. 

Ashe sat heavily on his bed and asked you for details. You gave them to him as best you could, meanwhile searching his closet for any clean clothes to wear. Ryo took the space next to your brother on the bed, leaning back comfortably against the wall and throwing in a comment here and there. The conversation went something along the lines of this:

“Sett’s having me spar with him this afternoon to see if I’m worth my salt as a fighter.”

“Which she’s not,” Ryo sang.

You glared at him. “But I plan to be at least a little competent by this afternoon. Which is where you come in, Ashe. How much do you think you can teach me in…”

Ryo checked his watch. “About eleven hours.”

You looked back to your older brother sweetly. “Eleven hours?” 

Ashe’s nose scrunched up as he considered and you took the moment to study the rest of his face more closely. He had another cut just under his eye from last night's battles. It looked shallow enough now, but you knew that it had probably bled all through the night if the piles of stained gauze in the waste bin by Ashe's bed were any indication. Your brother's body had become increasingly bruised and scarred during his time in the pit and you couldn't help the questions that arose in your mind.

How long had it taken him to become proficient in fighting? He had never been a very physical child, always avoiding the wrestling boys near your home and trying his best not to be chosen for the more violent games in the street. He had preferred puzzles and word games in the house, reading books with you and telling fantastical stories with animated hands. What had even driven him to come to the pit in the first place? Ashe didn't particularly like to talk a lot, but he kept his mouth especially tight on this topic. He was fast and clever. He had no experience wielding a blade that you knew of, yet Ashe hadn't lost a single fight. On one of your two visits to his room when he desperately needed something to take your mind off father, Ashe had confessed to how he looked at fights and conflicts. 

"I look at them like a game," he explained. His finger tapped his temple. "I like figuring out how their mind works and using it against them."

So could he help you turn Sett's mind as a weapon against himself? Ashe shook his head in exasperation and rose to stand beside you at the closet door. He threw a bundle of pants and loose shirts at you and pointed to the dressing screen in the other corner, the insistence of his finger telling you there was no time to waste at all. He would train you but --

Ryo spoke the exact words your brother was trying to express. "Kindred help your soul." 

~ 

“Dammit," you yelped, jumping back from Ashe and shaking the hand his practice sword had smacked. The two of you were ten and a half hours into your allotted eleven hours of practice time and you were now very glad you would be sparring with Sett instead of your brother. It was probably a stupid thought to have but honestly, you’d rather your ribs be crushed or your face smashed than have a sword hit your fingers one more time. 

“Time out,” you called, unwrapping the bandages around your hands to examine the newest bruise sure to be forming. A low curse escaped your lips at the sight of your poor, beaten hands. Your fingers had started bleeding around the cuticles in some places and a prominent blood welt had pooled between your left hand’s thumb and forefinger. You drew the dagger Ashe had gifted you and cut the skin there, allowing the blood to flow free. 

A little song came out of your mouth as you began wrapping your hands back up. “I hate everything and I especially hate you, dear brother mine.” It was pretty tuneless and short, but it got the message across. Ashe smiled in your direction and gestured for you to pick your weapon back up. 

Ryo had left at the beginning of the tenth hour with promises to return with the Boss for your guys's ‘date.’ You had rolled your eyes at that word again but Ashe’s eyebrows had raised just a fraction. Some brotherly teasing had ensued before you barked that you just wanted to be able to kick Sett’s ass. With that, training resumed. 

In all your time practicing, Ashe had filled you in on just the basics of hand to hand combat, how to get a general read of opponents, and how to compartmentalize pain. You had told him how you wanted the fight to go and Ashe, with only a hint of concern, had adjusted his lessons accordingly. It was better than Ryo who had straight up laughed in your face. You had flipped him off in response. 

Now nearing the end of your training time, you had asked Ashe to switch to training with weapons. You were fairly confident in your strategy with Sett and thus wanted a head start with some techniques for your first actual fight in the arena. But DAMN swords sucked to fight against. Especially when they always seemed to be rapping against your knuckles. 

It was in the midst of sparring a bit more with your brother that Ryo entered the arena with a dramatic BANG of the double doors. You and Ashe immediately whirled around, fighting stances fierce, a united front against Sett who followed Ryo into the sands of the fighting pit. 

The Boss smirked at the two of you and cracked his knuckles. "I take it you're ready for a rumble?"

Ashe patted you on the shoulder and took your practice weapon, bowing deeply to the Boss before walking over to Ryo. You fumed at being left so completely by your brother until you noticed how he stood next to the dark man. Ashe leaned in close to Ryo to hear what he was saying. A smile danced in his eyes and he was going to respond --

The snapping of fingers drew your attention back to the Boss and his rather smug expression. "Stalling for time, princess?"

"Don't call me that," you snapped, the only thing you could think of. And it was obviously very much the wrong thing to say as Sett's eyebrows rose in response. 

"No witty retort to that? No argument?"

You flexed your fingers in their wrappings, testing their agility before you flipped off the Boss. A bark of laughter came from Ryo even as Sett's eyes narrowed. With a sweeping bow similar to Ashe's in all but attitude, you declared, "I'm ready and waiting to kick your ass." 

"We'll see about that," was Sett's answering words as he wound some bandages around his own knuckles.

Again, at least he wasn't using a sword.

~

The match had begun with Ryo being the officiator. He waved a scarf to begin and that girl of hellfire and rage charged head first at Sett. Not the most tactful approach but definitely in line with what Sett knew thus far of her character. Her fists moved in rapid succession, trying and failing to land a blow on the Boss. He caught some of her punches in his hand and deflected others, hoping to catch her off balance, her guard lowered just a bit. But every time he tried to close his fingers around those fists, every time he tried to step closer to end the match, she ripped away and circled for a new angle. 

He had to hand it to Ashe, the kid was a good teacher. This was probably the girl’s first real fight and her form was pretty good. Her chin was tucked and both her hands hovered near her head, ready to protect that pretty face. She was quick on her feet like her brother and obviously had a bit of a brain as she always moved sideways, never back. There was no break in rhythm as she went in for another few punches, trying her best to vary where she hit but never going for his head. Probably because it was too high up and to try would expose her body as that one arm overextends. Smart enough. But there were ways Sett could work through even the best of defenses. Usually by raw, brute force, but whatever got him there, right? Unfortunately this wouldn’t be the answer to this fight. He didn’t want to break any bones, after all. This was just a sparring match to feel out her abilities. And Sett was impressed already. Would he let her into the pit? Yeah, might as well. But would he let the fun end now? Hell no. They were just getting started.

A lull in her attack as she caught her breath and Sett moved, faster than she was clearly expecting, going for a low uppercut to her stomach. He stopped his fist before it connected but he could still see the fear in her wide eyes, the arch in her back as she tried to move away from his punch too late. The Boss let his fist drop even as the girl drew back, panting as if he really had knocked the wind out of her. She glared daggers at him.

“Why did you stop it?” 

Sett’s eyebrows rose just a bit in his surprise before evening out in his normal -- as Ryo liked to call it -- resting bitch face. “You’d prefer a few broken ribs?” 

She spat on his pit floor. “I’ve gotta get used to the pains of this place somehow.” That girl shook out her fists and resumed her wide fighting stance. “This match isn’t over until one of us yields.”

Ryo spoke instead of Sett on that one, whining, “We’re going to be here all night then.” 

The Boss had to agree. She wouldn’t roll over easy for him. But he’d be crazy if he said he didn’t want to try to make her. 

“Alright,” he conceded. “Until one of us yields or is incapacitated.” 

Her lips drew a tight line. Sett knew she didn’t like that one bit but she wouldn’t -- couldn’t -- refuse. Because everyone knew the punch Sett had thrown just then would have hurt her bad enough that she wouldn’t have been able to continue. He was giving her this second chance and she despised it. He could get used to watching her squirm. 

“Fine,” she bit out. “But no more pulling your punches and I won’t pull mine.” 

Sett wanted to smirk at that -- what could she be pulling with those tiny arms of hers? -- but she was moving before he could even agree to her ridiculous deal. She darted in close to him and opened her body with a fierce, arcing kick that clearly had all her weight behind it. He stepped back so she didn’t hit, opening his mouth to say something clever that would surely make her see red but her knee bent as her first kick missed. That was the key word. First. Her knee was bending and her foot was returning. He’d stepped into the perfect path for her leg where it could hook around like that. And the heel of her foot was aiming straight for his crotch. 

Even as his balls were in danger, the Boss recalled he’d seen Ashe perform a similar maneuver in one of his matches. He’d always believed technique was for lightweights and that hadn’t changed a bit. But damn when it was used against him. 

He caught her foot easily, negating the instinctual flare of panic any male would go through when learning his groin was being targeted. Sett thought of teasing the girl further for aiming for such an intimate area (by closing the distance between said intimate area and her foot) but decided, no that was a bad decision as she began wriggling and writhing in his grasp. Stupid way to be kicked in the dick, that. Instead, Sett just yanked on her leg, throwing the girl off balance and making her shuffle forward awkwardly. 

His hand jumped up her leg to the crook of her knee and Sett smirked at her. “I guess you weren’t taught what to do when your opponent grabs you like this, huh?” Her face flushed in anger and his thumb caressed the skin there in emphasis. 

It did its job to distract her. In one swift motion, Sett pulled her leg straight up and stepped into her back. His right leg swept under her butt and jerked upward in a clean stroke that lifted her feet from the floor completely. For the finishing blow, his arms moved in tandem, the one gripping her leg throwing it over his head and the other pushing her back and off his thigh. She flipped to the floor with a painful smack that had Ryo and Ashe “ooo-ing.” 

Sett was already walking away from the girl in a victory loop, his back turned to her so he wouldn’t see the hate in her eyes as she wheezed and tried to suck in air. He’d always hated that feeling. He hated getting the air knocked out of him and the gulping face everyone made after as they tried to catch their breath. She coughed once, twice, then rose to her feet, arms already raised, albeit a bit shaky. 

The girl went through what seemed to be a checklist to get herself back into fighting shape. Teeth clenched, chin tucked, feet grounded, hands up. She hissed out a word that was too jumbled to make out, the dazed look in her eye clearing the more she said it. “Sett,” she growled. She spat it again, her pupils becoming sharp once more, her focus returning. 

Sett. She was muttering it again and again, not even caring that he could now hear her. Her teeth were gritted against the pain that was surely wrecking her body but still she continued. If he hadn’t already decided he wanted her in the pit, the Boss was sure this moment would have solidified his opinion. Controlling the pain with a trigger word and raring for another go already. Sett smiled inwardly and glanced over to where Ashe and Ryo stood watching the match. Impressive, he thought. Impressive.

Not all of the credit could go to them though. The Boss looked back to the girl in front of him, panting and muttering and radiating some absolutely murderous energy. She could really be something in the pit. He wanted to see her first battle as soon as possible. But before that she would have to train more and before she could train, this little sparring match would have to end.

So Sett went to work on what he did best: breaking necks and cracking bones. 

It took a little over five minutes to get her on the ground once more and this time it was her face in the sand. She was spitting fire as she thrashed under Sett’s knee. He had her completely pinned. His right foot stepped on her right wrist, his left hand holding her left one, his left knee pressing into her back and his right hand completely free to casually prop his chin up as he gazed down at the girl. She couldn’t even buck enough to raise her legs to kick him.

“I can stay here all day,” Sett said, “and wait for you to yield...” He made a show of his eyes roving over her body, pausing at each point he had her trapped. “But I doubt this is very comfortable for you. So why not just make this easier for both of us and give up?”

The fire in her eyes was something Sett was sure he’d never tire of. Her head had to twist to the side to even see him and her eyes squinted hatefully. But the words that came out of her mouth were deceptively sweet. “Why don’t you be the gentleman and forfeit? Or better yet just get off me so I can knock you on your ass a few times?” 

That last bit had come out more a growl than the sugar coated sweetness he was sure she was aiming for. Sett smirked, tilting his head and noticing with utmost delight that her eyes followed the way his hair fell to the side. “You’re gonna ruin my reputation. I’m a pit boss, not a gentle--”

“Kindred above,” Ryo exclaimed somewhere to the far left of Sett. “The sexual tension is killing me! We have business starting at eight and plenty more things to do before then, Boss.” He did a little circular motion with his hand. “Might want to hurry it up.” 

Goddamn Ryo. Sett was going to wring his scrawny neck. He had obviously been lying when he said he could wait all day for her to yield. Ryo didn’t need to stand up and outright confirm it. Now she was never going to give up. She was going to give him hell. But… there was one thing, Sett noticed. Something in that she wouldn’t look at him anymore. 

Every part of the girl beneath Sett went rigid at what Ryo had said. Maybe his right hand man was trying to help him out after all. Or push them both in a certain direction. Sett would teach that prick not to shove his nose in other people’s business some other time. For now, there was this mustang to break. And if the sexual tension Ryo mentioned was indeed what would break her… 

After shooting a glare at Ryo that had Ashe wilting beside him, Sett eased the pressure off his knee. “Ryo’s right,” he exhaled. He moved slowly to let her off the ground, making sure she couldn’t pull any surprises and ruin this moment when he was so close to winning. His weight shifted from his feet to his knees as he sat lightly on her lower legs, the rest of her body free to straighten to a similar kneeling position. The Boss kept a firm grip on the girl’s wrists despite the fact the fight seemed to be gone from her. Her movements were slow as Sett pulled her arms straight by her sides and then back some, guiding her onto his lap, into his chest. The Boss felt a grin rising, canines glinting as she fit so perfectly there and didn’t fight at all. 

Very well aware of her brother watching and Ryo practically buzzing with excitement somewhere in the background, the Boss leaned in close to the girl’s ear and said lowly so no one else could hear, “The night will start soon and people will be flocking here like crows to carrion.” He had very tactfully positioned her so she was looking straight ahead to the pit’s main entrance, where the illusion of people he wove would be filing in to watch the sandy arena she knelt in now. “They’ll come here expecting a show, sweetheart.” 

Her breath hitched and Sett fought to keep the smile from his voice even as he saw victory within reach. She pulled away slightly in silent protest, eyes still transfixed ahead, caught up in what the Boss hoped was some kind of dream, maybe some kind of fantasy...

A low, growling laugh escaped his throat. Just what had brought him here of all places, teasing a girl in the dirt of his fighting pit? And all to win a little sparring session? No, he supposed, it was to show her who the boss was around here. Since intimidation didn’t seem to work to hold her tongue, he figured some healthy embarrassment would instead. After all, a proud soul like her wouldn’t very much enjoy acknowledging the fact she was kneeling before him, practically in his lap and very much caught in some sort of… vision. 

Sett ducked his head into the crook of her neck, grinning at the way she shuddered from his every breath. “If you’re willing--” her movements became sharper, as if she already knew the words that completed the sentence -- “we could put on a show of our own for them.” 

And that was the last straw. This poor girl of fire and storm tore away from Sett’s grip, scrambling in the dirt to face him a good distance away. Her face was bright red and she looked so damn flustered. Sand had kicked up around her and now settled on her brother’s too loose training clothes. But that was her forfeit. That was his victory. 

“I really hate you,” she said solemnly. 

“Four hundred eighty four,” Sett declared, “and zero.” 

~

Ryo let out a low whistle as the Boss walked away from his hard fought battle with all the grace and swagger of someone who’d earned that title. You still sat defeated on the floor, staring at the ground and shaking your head. Ashe went to console you as best he could without smiling and Sett…

Sett the Beast Man Bastard strode towards the business of the night without a single glance back, his mind already working through estimates of how much coin would be made off bets and what percentages would have to go to the fighters. His right hand man trailed a bit behind him, pleased with his manipulations of the day and the relationships forming right before his eyes. The Boss would hold true to his promise of reprimanding goddamned Ryo on a later date. Still, the way you looked at him just then before you yielded… Sett tossed his hair to the side and smirked. He could get used to that. 

The double doors to the pit closed after the two males, leaving you and your brother alone once again to train or clean up, whatever your body could take at the moment. To be honest, you were feeling a little weak in the knees. Which you would never tell anyone and blamed on Sett for having tossed you around like a rag doll, the overconfident ass. You hissed in pain as the day’s events again came crashing down upon you like a tidal wave. Ashe laughed as you collapsed in the sand, completely drained and not even bothering to swat at him. Stupid jerk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nightmare nightmare nightmare nightmare nightmare nightmare 
> 
> Confession time! Whenever I feel even the slightest bit unmotivated to continue writing this, I watch Sett.exe memes. The fact that Sett shares the same Japanese voice actor with Dio fills me with indescribable amusement.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m no longer baby, I want to fight.”

It had been two months since the day she had sparred with the Boss and earned a place in the pit. Ashe rifled through his small closet for what to wear tonight. Two months of hard work and training and this would be his sister’s debut. Ryo would tell Sett this afternoon and Ashe would snag a spot near the Boss to see his reaction. And answer any questions he would very likely have. 

That first day when she fought… Ashe smiled. She was so pissed after that. They had gone out for dinner that night and she had pleaded with him to let her sleep in his room. Or lend her some money to sleep in a hotel near the pit. Anywhere besides the Boss’s room again. Oh yes, Ashe had heard about that from Ryo. He’d never seen the Boss’s back room in person, but his friend had filled him in on the details. Sett had given up his huge four poster bed with Ionian silk sheets for Ashe’s frustrating sister her first night in the pit. He had given her safe harbor from their father… 

Ashe still needed to ask her about that -- if she truly planned to never return there. It had been two months since she left, nearly a year and a half since Ashe had started his own life in the pit. Their father knew about his leaving -- didn’t care one bit -- but his sister… Father hated surprises. He liked feeling in control. A missing daughter was definitely not in control. But what could he do now? Ashe felt a grim sliver of satisfaction at that. She was eighteen now. Her birthday had passed during the two months of training. Ashe had given her the weapon she would use tonight. He had told her she was her own woman now and no one could take that away from her. Especially not their father.

It had been a small celebration. She didn’t want to tell Ryo about it even though Ashe thought it would be a good idea. She thought he would let word of it spread to the Boss who she had been completely avoiding since their match. Those two…

Ashe shook his head. He grabbed a pair of black pants and a simple long sleeve shirt and moved to the dressing screen to change. They were both strong willed and stubborn. Probably too prideful for their own good. But if he had to bet on who would come out on top… Sorry sister dear, but the Boss had a reputation of never losing. He was simply too different from anything she'd ever seen before. The Boss was a far cry from the simpering boys from school or the loud thugs in the streets. She could take those guys on, no problem. But the Boss was something else entirely. Ashe just hoped they’d figure something out before they tore each other apart. Because where they were headed now, she was only a few snide remarks away from breaking herself against the unbreakable fortress that was the Boss. 

A knock on the dressing screen had Ashe reeling from his thoughts and scrambling to yank up his pants. He popped his head out to see who his visitor was and honestly had no idea why he hadn’t known immediately or even expected it. Ryo stood there with his arms crossed and smiling. 

“Sorry to make you jump,” he said by way of greeting.

So Ashe had made a bit of a racket in his surprise. He cursed to himself and made a vulgar gesture at Ryo over the dressing screen. The dark man just laughed. Thank whatever gods above had given him that particular habit of his sister’s to cover up his blush. 

After checking and double checking he’d put on everything correctly, Ashe walked out to properly greet the Boss’s right hand man.

“Ready for your sister’s big debut?” Ryo said with a wink.

“Probably not as ready as her,” Ashe admitted.

The Boss’s right hand man extended his hand. “Let’s not disappoint her and miss it then.”

~

Two months. Just two months of training and she was in for her first fight tonight. Sett walked down the hallway to his throne in the pit, the best seat in the house. A wry smile pulled at his lips as he remembered his last interaction with that girl of wrath. And her notable avoidance of him after it. Imagine that. 

Yes, Ryo had indeed filled him in on her comings and goings with Ashe. They had trained nearly everyday for these two months. Most days were workouts or practice spars and when the vigorous muscle destruction caught up to them, Ashe trained her mind. How to size up an opponent, how to shut off pain, how to recover from being rocked. All good things to know, especially if she was going to follow in her brother Saber’s footsteps here. 

As Sett entered the pit’s stands and became visible to the crowd, the entire atmosphere shifted. He surveyed the eyes that dared stare around him and recognized a few of his frequent buyers that had deeper pockets. He didn’t nod to them or give any words of acknowledgement, but the recognition was there and appreciated by the customers. Ladies swooned, men murmured, and Sett cared for none of it. He walked over to his throne and collapsed comfortably onto it. 

Full on rookie nights happened only once every three months in Sett’s pit. They were a pain in the ass to organize and the meager profits they produced did nothing to win the Boss’s favor. Some surprises and true gems popped up here and there, but they were few and far between. Besides, it was only a matter of time before those gems got big heads and caused big problems. The only way Sett truly entertained himself during these nights of short fights and boring people was betting which ones would be the problem kids and how long he had until he slammed them into the ground. But despite all that, when Ryo had informed him this night was going to be the girl’s debut, the Boss had found himself looking forward to nothing else all week. 

Sett was calculating the potential coin that could be made tonight when Ryo approached from behind with Ashe in tow. They had just finished up a conversation the boss hadn’t bothered listening in on and the kid was smiling so brightly it was a marvel to think him and his sister were related at all. So easy to make smile, so easy to talk to… The Boss made a mental note to buy Ryo a drink later for perhaps snagging the easier of the two but for now, there was a pressing question on his mind. 

“Where’s your sister?” Sett asked Ashe. “I didn’t see her name on the registry.”

“Wait and watch,” the kid said, tapping his wrist and nodding to the arena below. A satisfied smile played on his lips. He was obviously pleased about something. 

Ryo grinned easily, an arm looping around Ashe’s shoulders. “Gonna invite us to sit down, Boss, or are we gonna have to stand all night?

Bastard was getting cocky with his little friend. “You get to stand behind me all night,” Sett drawled. “Ashe can have a seat over there.” He gestured to a seat to the right of his throne but the Boss didn’t take his eyes off Ryo and didn’t lighten up to match the dark man’s mood. 

Understanding at once that there were too many eyes now to play games, Ryo bowed his head in submission, retracting his arms from a now tensing Ashe. Sett wanted to tell the kid that it was safe, that he wasn’t going to beat him or whatever the hell their dad did to have made Ashe so timid. Whatever their dad did to make his daughter so angry. But that was a train of thought for another time. Sett almost growled that it had somehow wormed its way in his head now of all times. What was he thinking? Ashe. Ashe who was now on edge and stone faced. 

Sett again gestured to the seat next to him. “Sit. Ryo doesn’t get to because he’s a bastard.” A light enough explanation to ward off the fear lingering around Ashe. The kid sat. Ryo relaxed. The night began.

It was a little over four hours into the night before literally anything interesting happened. Four hours of the same kind of fighters strutting about the pit, of awkward, halting conversation between some lady and a now happily silent Ashe, of Ryo stifling his laughter at Sett’s increasing frustration. He had finally been allowed to take a seat by Ashe maybe two hours ago, saving the kid from any more women looking for a night’s partner but perhaps he didn’t deserve it. Boring, boring, boring. All of these rookies were so boring. Especially when compared to that devilish girl the Boss had been waiting two months to see again. It was that bastard Ryo’s fault likely, convincing her to delay her debut for two months, telling him the news at the beginning of the week so it would stick in his mind, scheduling her for late in the night to keep Sett on his toes -- 

Ashe leaned forward in his seat. 

Sett blinked. Even Ryo tapped his shoulder, pointing to someone walking onto the sand, someone the announcer called Reaper. The Boss leaned forward slightly, wondering why exactly this fighter garnered his friends’ attention. 

This ‘Reaper’ character wore a metal mask and a billowing black cloak that reached mid thigh. It looked like a poncho of sorts but Sett could see by the way it shifted that cuts had been made down the fabric to allow his arms to move freely. No visible weapons but they were probably hiding under that cloak. Sett didn’t object to heavy clothing like that in his pit or even masks if the fighters wanted to wear them (so long as they let the Boss see their face). It’s just that most fighters didn’t. Most men here wore little clothing to let them move faster and so they couldn’t get snagged anywhere. And it was to show off their bodies too if Sett were being totally honest. 

But the night was nearing its end and it’d been a long day -- a long week -- and the Boss was becoming impatient with Ashe and Ryo’s thorough methods of dodging his questions. Finally he just rubbed his eyes and said, “don’t tell me that’s her.” 

Ashe and Ryo exchanged a glance. They grinned. 

Reaper looked to be around her height and build sure, but… 

“Where’s her chest?”

Ryo guffawed at the bluntness of Sett’s question -- addressed to her brother no less. Ashe, to his credit, didn’t even pause. He simply made it clear that she had bound it. 

“She wants to build a persona. A name for herself.” The kid gestured widely around them. “And she wants to make the pit more profitable.” 

The Boss didn’t take his eyes off her -- Reaper -- in the arena below. She was up against some Shuriman kid with one of those weird whip swords people seemed to like so much. He personally didn't see the appeal of the floppy blades, but then again, Sett didn’t see the appeal to any weapons other than his fists. “While I’m all for that,” the Boss rose to his feet, not giving a second thought to the eyes that followed him now, “what does she have in mind?”

Ashe and Ryo watched from their own seats as Sett approached the edge of the platform of where his throne sat. “More fun with fights,” Ryo answered. “And more options for customers after the fights of the night have ended.” 

Sett asked, more absent mindedly than anything, “What sort of options?” Absent mindedly because his looming presence over the arena had drawn the officiator’s attention and the stare of every person in the pit, her opponent included. Finally, she looked up as well. She was absolutely burning behind that mask. Sett’s own eyes lit up as she met his gaze. He almost wanted her to challenge him in front of all these people. He wanted an excuse to play with her. In front of this audience, in front of all these eyes, taking their judgement in stride. He wanted to fulfill that scenario he’d proposed two months ago.

What could he do that wouldn’t compromise her persona as “Reaper” but would make her see red? It was likely already too late not to arouse suspicion but... Perhaps that was a good thing. This could launch her career in the pit forward much faster than she’d expected. With only the tiniest of smirks playing on his lips, Sett reclaimed his throne and waved for the match to carry on. 

Those eyes of hers watched him long after that though, even as the pit officiator ushered the two fighters to the middle of the arena. Anyone else would see it as the Reaper sizing up the Boss but Sett knew it for what it was. She was plotting all the ways she’d try to punch him in the balls later. Sett just spread his legs wider in invitation and smirked as, at last, she turned away.

Ryo’s clearing of his throat had the Boss back to the present conversation but when he repeated his question, Ashe just shook his head.

“In time.” He tapped the back of his wrist. “We’ll get to it in time.”

And it was a good answer too. Though his pride made him repeat his question to Ryo, Sett wanted to watch this fight. The pit officiator let his scarf fly and the two fighters sprung into action. 

~

Blood heated and movement surged. The Shuriman’s whip sword snaked out to end the fight early, its crack deafening in the charged space between you two. Your own weapon flashed now, pulled from under your coat to deflect the blow.

Fucking Sett.

Your reaping hook swiped the whip to the side and you ran to close the distance. The Shuriman again rallied his weapon, trying to bring it down sharply atop your head, but you didn't break pace. Instead, your sickle flashed over head, clinking it's way under the metal bits and keeping them well away from flesh. 

The space between you having closed to a deadly few feet, the Shuriman made a last ditch effort to keep you at bay. He yanked down on his blade so forcefully you actually had to throw yourself to the side to avoid it. But instead of fighting the momentum now, you fell with it. Your shoulder hit the sand first and you rolled, coming up on your knees behind the Shuriman. 

Shock rippled through the arena as the fight came to a sudden pause. No one in the audience was able to quite make out what had made the Shuriman warrior freeze. No one, that is, except for the Boss, his right hand man, and your brother who had the best seats in the house. It was only from their vantage point that they could see what the Reaper now held captive to secure his victory. 

A sliver of glinting metal was just barely visible between the Shuriman's legs. You had pressed your cruelly curved blade up against the man's balls after coming out of your roll. Ryo howled with laughter from his seat near the Boss, a smile playing on your own brother's lips. You wanted to smile too -- your first battle in the pit and you'd undoubtedly won -- but that ass Sett was still watching. You'd gotten the idea of pinning this dude's balls from him if you were being honest. The smirk he'd tossed your way before the match had been beyond infuriating. This was supposed to be your night, your victory that would have begun the legend of the Reaper. But he'd somehow tainted even that, weaving his story ever further into yours. 

The Boss had taken notice of the Reaper and that was why people would take notice of him now. Sett had done what many could have considered a favor but you considered a challenge. He didn't think the Reaper could make it on his own? Fine. His balls were next. 

With a tipped head of acknowledgement to the Boss who was now clearly watching intently, the Reaper stood, shoving the Shuriman away from him. The man stumbled but made no attempt to attack, probably still in a bit of shock. Reaper took this moment to turn slowly in a circle, staring up at the stands in silent challenge. After making a full revolution and facing the Boss once more, the Reaper hid his curved blade and stalked away from the middle of the arena. That was his first battle won but hopefully…

“Where are you going?” The Shuriman had regained his voice and balls enough to dare ask this fight continue. Much to the crowd's delight and yours. 

Ashe had warned you that people loved violence. It would be hard to get popular and respected in the pit without killing a few opponents here and there. But Ashe and Ryo had both said to only take a step in that direction when you were ready. So in your two months of training, you had gone out with Ryo on errands for the Boss. Sett hadn't known, of course, but Ryo wanted you to experience some bloodshed firsthand to see if you had the stomach for it. What you didn't tell him was that even if you didn't, you would somehow push through to make a name for yourself in the pit. 

The crowd had been murmuring their discontent at the lack of blood in your fight but that had been the point, the fun, the tease of it all. It was part of the game you and Ashe had brainstormed earlier this week to cement the Reaper’s character. You almost wanted to thank your opponent for playing along. 

But instead of nodding your appreciation, the Reaper moved slowly, a question in the very way he turned, angled his shoulders, cocked his head. The slow movements of disbelief, as if asking, “do you really want another go?” 

It seemed the entire pit held its breath as it waited for the Shuriman’s answer. What would his saying yes unleash upon the sands? What sort of humiliation would he face if he said no? The Reaper held utter superiority in this fight. Despite his smaller stature and slim build, there was an air he carried that could not be matched -- at least not by his opponent. 

Black fabric swirled around the Reaper as he took one lurching step towards the Shuriman, then another. And the man held his ground. He raised his whip sword once again, cautious this time, ready for another round of battle. The crowd murmured excitedly to one another as the Reaper’s slow steps turned deliberate and quick, the fighter stalking forward with hackles raised, fingers curling as if claws would sprout from them. Someone, somewhere, began the chant for blood. 

There was nothing left of you as the Reaper caught the blade of the Shuriman's sword in his gloved hands. He yanked it to the side, the pain blossoming in your cut skin not phasing the fighter in you in the slightest. Reaper's black boot slammed into his opponent's chest, sending him flying backwards, his weapon ripped away from his hands and ripping into yours. The sword clattered to the ground unceremoniously, tossed behind you simply to be rid of it. 

You flexed your glove fingers as you walked over to the Shuriman now flat on his back. Blood followed your path through the sand, staining shimmering gold a crimson red. The same boot that had kicked him to the ground now pinned him there, heavy and firm. Reaper said nothing but leaned down to look his opponent in his eye. With your mask in place, no one would ever know it was you. It covered your entire face. People may glimpse your skin color through the intricate patterns woven into the metal mask, but no defining features could really be seen. Just your eyes. Just your eyes that met the Shuriman's now. 

There was no point in continuing. The Reaper had bested his opponent twice over. No one would question his victory. Even the Shuriman acknowledged his defeat albeit with hatred and fear in his eyes. But still, there was a legend to build. There were points to be made. So, with little flourish and horrible brutality, your reaping sickle flashed one last time. 

Reaper dragged the point of his blade in a curve around the loser’s right eye, ending the bottom of it with a straight line down so it formed a question mark shape -- the shape of the Reaper’s sickle. The Shuriman bucked underneath the Reaper but he finished his brand with unnerving calm and precision. This wasn’t the first time you had carved the shape with your blade, but it was the first time you had carved it in flesh. The metal passed through it so easily, a thin, red streak left in its wake. Blood pooled and then ran down the man’s face like tears. Some of it tried to dribble into his eyes but you wiped it away with a gloved thumb, caressing his forehead. Reaper cocked his head to the side.

To the rest of the world, Reaper was admiring his handiwork, making sure the cut was deep and messy enough to leave a scar. And in actuality, this was the truth. You needed to make sure your first cut was one that would last. The cheering crowd would spread the tale of tonight’s fight like wildfire in Sett’s shady circle. “There’s a promising newcomer to the pit,” they would whisper. “Even the Boss took notice of him.” Reaper’s climb would be meteoric. And you, personally, could not wait.

~

It was only another thirty minutes after the Reaper’s fight that the night ended. Early by this pit’s standards -- the line of rookies waiting to get pummeled had run dry by now. Coin swapped hands and customers filed out. Some were happy and some were upset but such was the way of Sett’s underground business. Ryo whistled to himself as he collected the night’s profits from each till, counting down the seconds until he could see Ashe’s sister again. Knowing what he knew, Ryo suspected this night would be more fun yet. 

After stashing the bags of money in the safe behind the Boss’s desk, Ryo was ready to hop on over to the shady tavern Ashe had selected for tonight’s celebration. Knowledge which he may or may not have let slip to the Boss. And implied that he was invited to. Holy hell, if Sett didn’t kill him for this one Ryo had no idea what would. But hopefully things would go smooth tonight and uhhhh Reaper would get over her slight hatred for the Boss. Ryo knew he was playing with matches over two powder kegs but he couldn’t help himself. It was just too much fun not to try to play match(ha)maker. Now as he came up on Ashe’s room, that was something else to think about entirely…

“Hey,” Ryo called out down the hallway. Ashe turned to him, a simple smile brightening his otherwise gloomy face. If Sett and that girl had resting bitch faces, Ashe definitely had a resting sad face. His eyes were beautifully clear, but downcast half the time -- as if he were some cursed prince with a tragic past. 

“All done?” Ashe asked. 

Ryo bowed deeply, mimicking Saber’s own dramatic sweep. “Ready and waiting.” 

Those crystalline eyes rolled upwards but a smile tugged at Ashe’s lips. Another habit from his sister, no doubt -- but with just a hint of him underneath. It was like that gesture he’d thrown Ryo’s way earlier. Purely hellfire; all his sister. How interesting it would be if these siblings really did rise in power in the pit. 

But that was besides the point! For now, Ryo slung an arm ‘round Ashe’s shoulders and declared, “Let’s head to the bar already. I’ve arranged for some cain to be raised tonight!”

Ashe’s head hung in response, his way of groaning. He looked up at Ryo with a twisted mouth and disapproving eyes that very clearly asked, “what did you do?”

Ryo just laughed. “Nothing yet, my friend. Absolutely nothing yet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just remembered Ashe is the name of another League champ.
> 
> Damn.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A realistic look on what someone’s first fight in the pit will do to them.

Reaper had quickly left after his fight and collected his payment at the till. The man on duty was one you’d never seen around the pit before. His breath stank and his smile was weedy at best. You marveled that people didn’t outright turn away at the door when Ryo wasn’t at the counter. Reedy congratulated you on your victory -- or the Reaper’s victory -- and generally showered you with compliments until it became painfully obvious he was just trying to get a peek behind the mask. You weathered the storm with patient silence, waiting and waiting and waiting for Reedy to get the hint. Reaper didn’t talk and no amount of pestering would make him. Nevermind that you personally wanted to cut off Reedy’s tongue and shove it down his throat. You were tired and your hands were still bleeding and you just wanted your pay. Eventually you did get that sack of coins and you counted them in the safety of an alleyway leading into one of the pit’s secret exits. 

It was a decent amount of money for your first fight if you were being honest. What the heck were fighters making trouble for Sett for? This was basically pay for a week’s worth of work at your old job. And all you’d had to do was… Your jaw clenched as you thought about standing over that boy in the sand. 

He’d looked to be about your age. Not a seasoned veteran like Ryo or a muscled egomaniac like Sett -- he was a kid. Like you. Like Ashe. 

What had driven him to the fighting pit? Was he in some kind of pinch and needed money? Where did he get his weapon? Was it a gift from a loved one? He had challenged you again even when he knew he was defeated. You’d terrorized him, taunted him -- all for the sake of making a point to the Boss, to the people watching. He had looked at you with such fear when you’d pinned him to the ground. He’d wriggled beneath your boot like a fly caught in a spider’s web. Desperate. Afraid. Fighting for what he thought was his life. He’d made a mistake in challenging the Reaper again, but that was the curse of the pit. A hazy sort of cloud settled over one’s mind when they were in the sands. It dulled your better thinking, separated you from your sense of self. That Shuriman boy made a mistake and now he would be branded forever with your mark. 

All these thoughts and more hastened your steps through the streets. You’d removed the Reaper’s mask ages ago in some blind alley. Piece by piece the persona was stripped away from you, the costume stuffed into your bag. No one would think twice about you now. The reaping scythe was the last piece to be hidden solely because you had grown quite attached to it. The weight of the sickle at your side provided a comfort you had yet to find anywhere else. Skulking about the shady parts of town still scared you despite the training you’d received in these past two months. You saw the faces of your assailants from your first night in the pit everywhere here. Every glimpsed silhouette behind buildings were people who would do you harm, take something away that could never be replaced. 

You huffed out a cold laugh. Imagine Sett hearing you admit that. Imagine him realizing that the fire and rage that intrigued him so was just a facade for the frightened girl beneath. You hated yourself for being so weak. At least your rage was somewhat real. You were hatred and judgement and flame. You were a bad person. You’d always thought so and tonight just proved it. Empathy for your opponent meant nothing if you had carved the Reaper’s sickle into his skin all the same. Branded him so that he would remember this night forever. Marked him as a victim of yours so that every time he looked in the mirror he would remember who owned him--

A quick dart to the wall of a building and you saved the majority of the alleyway from being covered in puke. The gore wasn’t what bothered you really. The deep cuts on your hands were already bandaged and on their way to healing. Fights were nice and honest, just action and reaction. You liked being Reaper. It was just… you hadn’t realized how awful it would be to look another person in the eye and see such hatred there.

Pain brings out the worst in humans, that is simple fact. A person in pain would have a hard time not hating the person inflicting it. It’s the easiest path for the mind to take so it’s the one most taken. It’s oftentimes hardest to forgive your enemies and how could you? They had hurt you in some way. They had stolen something from you or given you wounds that would take years to heal, invisible or not. 

Of course your opponent would hate you for what you’d done. It was a terrible wound to his pride, to his fighting spirit. And the fact that it wasn’t invisible, that it would be seen by others and remarked upon… You quickly ducked your head back against the wall as you vomited again.

What a pitiful sight you must have made, curled against an alley wall and emptying your stomach. You were shaking, you realized. Your body felt cold even as sweat drenched your body. What was wrong with you? If Ashe found you like this, you’d never hear the end of his worrying. He wouldn’t let you fight in the pit ever again. And you needed to. You had to get strong somehow. You needed to feel...

A shake of your head let your hair wash over your face. You had never given anyone a real reason to hate you, to want to hurt you. There were the boys whose hearts you’d rejected in school and thugs on the streets you’d beat off your brother, but that wasn’t real. Those were the games of children. The schoolboys would recover and find a new girl to fawn over. The street thugs were petty and small minded fools who had nothing better to do with their time. But this… That Shuriman boy would hate you personally for who you were and what you’d chosen. 

The Reaper was going to be feared and hated and loved and you needed to accept it. This was what you’d signed up for. But that didn’t mean you couldn’t have a few more moments. You moved away from the sick and hugged your knees to your chest. Just a little bit of time before you met up with the boys. Just to think things over. 

Yes. You buried your face in your arms. Just thinking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> edgy edgy edgy edgy this is so edgy
> 
> HEY! This one is super short! Awful! But I wrote it to make up for last chapter’s late update and uhhhh the fact that I don’t like where I left off. It felt weird. So here’s this angsty stuff.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Insert relevant meme here before you post, you dunce)

Ryo was such a rat.

Sett had no idea where his tolerance for the man came from. It sure as hell wasn’t something from his ma -- no, she’d always said he’d gotten his temper from her. And Sett had a hard time believing anything good could’ve come from his old man. So where did this patience come from? Perhaps it was the fact that despite all his pushing and pestering, Sett’s right hand man really did come through in every endeavor. 

Looking through their shared past, Ryo had always been the cause of or present for something good happening. Whether it was securing new opportunities for the pit or betting on some underdog, Ryo had a knack for knowing how to play his cards. And Sett’s too, for that matter. There had been more than one occasion in the past where Ryo had gone behind the Boss’s back to make some great deal or punish an up and coming star before he got too big a head. Usually such behavior would be shut down immediately and the person responsible given a hell of a beating, but Ryo had somehow become different in his years of working for the Boss. 

Sett had given Ryo more leash than anyone simply because the man was unimaginably good at his job. Nothing was too big or small a matter for Ryo to handle when Sett didn’t have time to spare. And besides, though Ryo liked to play, he knew when not to undermine his boss. Like tonight at the pit. One look at Sett’s expression was all he had needed to know that the Boss was out for the night, not his friend. But still, it didn’t stop him during times like these from running his fat mouth and potentially getting him into a lot of trouble. 

A small celebration for the Reaper’s debut was expected and reasonable, but the implication that Sett had been invited to it? Ryo had gone just a little too far in that, thus incriminating himself and giving Sett a plausible reason to attend. When Sett did in fact show up at Ashe’s seedy pub, the girl would blame Ryo and Sett could play innocent. Even though he knew full well what he was walking into and had known from the beginning that Ryo had lied. But how could he stay away after seeing Reaper’s fight? She had avoided him for two entire months after their spar and as understandable as it was, Sett was pretty done with that whole thing. 

What were his thoughts earlier that night in the pit? He ‘wanted to play with her.’ There was something refreshing about her fire. She had no real regard for her own safety and challenged him whenever possible. Usually Sett preferred submission and obedience from people but that was on a strictly business level. He enjoyed it when she challenged him. She was self destructive and angry and probably downright manic, but… 

Was he about to say he saw himself in her? Sett snorted. Kindred help both their souls if that were the case. Still, there were no other acceptable explanations as to why he found her so interesting. Life was already weird enough. He supposed this was just another aspect of it. 

Business looked to be slow going in the tavern Ashe had selected for the night’s festivities. The door was open to the alley Sett now walked down, a sickeningly yellow light pouring out and washing over him. There was no music coming from inside, no raised voices or even the clinking of glasses. It was pretty late, yes, but Sett still expected a bit more from this part of town -- a particularly seedy part of town. 

Touching on that, how did Ashe even know about this place? This tavern was so far into the badlands that even he had never been. Sett might’ve made a living doing some less than legitimate business, but he didn’t like to think of himself too closely associated with the scum around here. Still, he had to smirk when he walked through the establishment’s threshold and every head turned to look at him. 

And every person continued to watch as Sett made his way to a back table where Ryo was making a ruckus, roaring with laughter at something being said. By his other companions. By Ashe or… her. She was smiling at Ryo and tucked into the seat next to her brother. 

“You’re a terror to men everywhere, you know that?” Ryo took a swig from his mug and wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve. It was purely for show, Sett knew. The dark man’s manners were actually quite nice -- this was just to match the character he was putting on tonight. And as Ryo’s eyes slid to Sett’s and uttered these next words, the Boss knew exactly how to classify this character. It was the classification Ryo almost always fell under: asshole. 

“Kindred help whatever man you get saddled with.” 

The siblings looked up just in time to see Sett slide into a seat at their table and kick back. His legs spread comfortably, he met their stares with a tilt of his head. Ashe knew exactly what was up as his eyes immediately narrowed at Ryo. But that girl of hellfire and rage -- she kept staring at him. 

“Congrats on winning,” was all he offered. No explanation needed. Play dumb and Ryo would take the blame for this. Sett couldn’t think of any way the night could have gone better.

~

Why. The hell. Was. Sett. Here.

After you were done fully accepting that, yes, the Boss was indeed here, you snapped to Ryo and pointed an accusatory finger at him.

“You.”

The dark man couldn’t contain his grin even as Ashe punched his arm. “Yes, darling?” he answered, pleasantness oozing from his voice. 

“I’m beating the everloving  _ crap  _ out of you during training tomorrow.” 

And you were indeed angry enough to do it. Especially as Sett asked, “Something wrong?”

Damnable Ryo. He didn’t even try to hide his glee.

“Nothing,” you said wryly, still glaring at the dark man. “I just wasn’t expecting to see you tonight.” A half truth. You hadn’t wanted to see him and thus hadn’t expected to see him. Too bad for you that Ryo was an absolute bastard and invited him anyways. 

You propped your chin up with a hand and leaned further into the table, towards where Sett sat across from you. Your mind wasn’t quite in prime shape at the moment and you needed as many nonverbal edges as you could get. “So. What can we help you with, Boss?”

Sett’s eyebrows rose a fraction in what you were sure was fake surprise. “Does it always have to be business between us? I thought we had a bit of a sparking moment during our sparring match two months ago.” 

You felt your face heat and blood boil at the memories he brought up so casually. While managing to look completely innocent doing it too. Stupid, puppy dog looking ass. You didn’t know whether to look down or keep glaring at him. Which would cause less pain in the end? 

And as you were preparing a response good enough to make Sett shut the hell up, you saw Ashe out of the corner of your eye knock back the last dregs of his beer (much to Ryo’s delight). It was a very grounding sight in the flood of emotion that threatened to overtake you. Instead of rising to Sett’s challenge in the way he obviously expected, you leaned back in your seat. 

With one leg crossed over the other and your arms folded across your chest, you said with utmost calm, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Denial. 

Not the optimal play in this position and you knew it the moment Ryo opened his fat mouth to chime in with something terrible. If he could jump in on it then this was easy game for Sett.  _ Maybe _ this way the Boss would confess what he did and he wouldn’t be looking so innocent anymore, but if he felt no shame about it (which you doubted he did), there was really no winning in this scenario. You were fighting an uphill battle and trying to be decent but what the hell was decency in a fight with a pit boss? 

Your resolve to be better for Ashe was quickly eroding under this barrage of doubt and fear until Sett opened his mouth. 

“Imagine that.” 

He was smirking at you knowingly, his head tilted just slightly to the side. Ashe jumped into the conversation at this point, shoving a mug of beer in Sett’s direction. He was probably just thankful the two of you wouldn’t be escalating this fight any further in public. And you would gladly take that as a win. The same could not be said, however, for when you were all outside, walking through the alleys back to your respective sleeping places. 

No one had really drank much, you and Sett in particular. He had arrived too late to really start with Ryo and Ashe and you had decided you didn’t want to drink. At least not for a little while. You had already thrown up once tonight and, though the day had been exciting, you were now thoroughly exhausted. No drinking was needed to top that off. But Sett still seemed to want to pick a fight to finish the day. And Ashe didn’t have all his wits about him to put a stop to it. 

So as a wise master once said: ‘Aw shit, here we go again.’

~ 

What had happened after her fight in the pit? 

Sett had first smelled it in the tavern but dismissed it as nothing. Every place had its own scent and Sett was used to ignoring them for the most part. But it was here too. It followed them through every backstreet and alley they turned down, the scent of sickness. It wasn’t noticeable by any human means, but then again, Sett wasn’t entirely human. So he could detect the smell of sick and tears that clung to her. 

What had happened after her fight? There was no way in hell she’d tell him, but the question still nagged at the back of his mind. Sett hadn’t felt too great after his first fight either. He’d ran home cryin’ to momma. And... she’d ran away from her home. 

So what was there to do about it? Nothing really. Again, she’d probably see him commenting on it as a challenge and clam up even further. No, instead he’d have to invite her to his room. And if he played his cards right, she would accept. Out of spite, yeah, but it would give her a chance to clean up and not have to stay in whatever dingy place she had been these past two months. Plus, Sett couldn’t resist the chance to make her mad again. Ashe had cut short their fight from earlier and the Boss was raring for another go.

And he seized his opportunity when Ryo walked a bit ahead with a wobbling Ashe on his arm. Pulling his arms up behind his head, he cast a sidelong look her way. He studied her clothes and her hair, the comfortable shoes she’d traded for the Reaper’s boots. The bag where she presumably kept that costume was slung across her chest and looked heavy. Like hell she would let anyone here carry it though. 

She probably noticed immediately that Sett was staring but didn’t address it for a good few minutes. The Boss fought to keep the smirk from his face when she finally turned to him and snapped, “What?” 

“I was just thinking you look a bit tired. You’re welcome to come back to the pit to freshen up and sleep.”

And that girl just glared and glared, trying to see the trickery behind his offer. But there was none. It was truly genuine. She seemed to understand that because the grip on her bag became a little looser. She still wasn’t saying yes though. To give her that final push, Sett rolled his eyes and said, “Ryo or Ashe can tag along if you need a chaperone.”

Her hackles raised and her grip on that bag was once again iron. “I don’t  _ need  _ anything,” she growled.

“Good!” Ryo called from up ahead, looking over the shoulder that didn’t have Ashe leaning on it. “I wouldn’t have agreed to it anyways. Not if you guys keep flirting and beating around the bush.”

That prompted both the Boss and the Reaper telling Ryo to shut the hell up. In sync.

The Boss looked over at her and she looked at him. A smirk was already pulling at the corner of his lips, but before he could say anything, she harrumphed and looked away, arms crossed like a petulant child. That just made Sett grin wider. He had told Ryo to shut up because he was going to scare her away. She’d likely told him to shut up because she didn’t want to believe it was true. But that reaction did nothing but prove Ryo’s point. Or at least made it seem very plausible. 

Anyways, more bickering ensued and Sett thoroughly enjoyed the sight of that girl of hellfire and rage laying into his right hand man. Ashe had moaned about it being too late to be shouting, but his sister didn’t care. Another suggestive remark from Ryo had her blowing her top all over again. Sett was in a very good mood and the night kept on getting better as Ashe and Ryo went their separate way into the underbelly of the pit and she remained with him.

She was quiet as she walked behind him (trudged more like) and glared twin holes into the back of his head. Sett pretended not to notice and continued on like all was normal. It wasn’t even a minute into the slicing silence when she asked, “So… can I just walk back to my place after I shower?” 

Sett glanced back at her. “What? Regretting this decision already?”

"I don't even know why I agreed to it," she sighed. "I mean, I won't have a change of night clothes here anyways."

A smirk. "You're more than welcome to use some of mine."

With doubtful, half-lidded eyes, she looked Sett up and down then said drily, "I don't think they would fit very well. And I doubt they’d be very comfortable anyways.”

_ Really?  _ They were at Sett’s office already. He unlocked the door to his room and walked in. “You got something against Ionian silk, princess?"

Her face turned a brilliant shade of red and she stopped at the door. “Don’t,” she gritted out, “call me that.”

Sett stopped fully as well, turning back to see her fists clenched and teeth bared. Like she was ready to launch into a fight here and now for calling her that. And while Sett didn’t mind the idea of a roll through the metaphorical mud with her in the slightest, he had his belongings and her wellbeing to think about. Any more excitement in the day and she might just be overwhelmed. 

So instead, with a smirk that let her know he was letting her off the hook this time, Sett repeated his question. "Got something against Ionian silk,  _ sweetheart?" _

It was obvious she didn’t like that pet name either, but she answered anyway. Arms crossed and eyes sliding to the side, she shrugged. “When it doesn’t belong to me, yes.”

Sett took off his coat and threw it over the back of a chair, folding his arms to face the girl again. Still hovering by the door and her scowl deepening at the sight of him half naked. Part of him wanted to tease her for the modesty she still seemed to possess, but all that came out was, “You’re still worried about ruining my nice things. So scared of being in debt to the Boss?”

“When I first came here, you told me your bedsheets alone cost more than my house. Like I said before, I don’t enjoy the notion of beginning my career here in debt.” 

A disappointingly frank and professional response. Still, Sett smirked. “That’s right. Poor little Reaper has bills to think about now if you really aren’t going to stay here.” 

She looked down. Her voice got quiet. 

“It isn’t safe for the Reaper here.” 

_ It isn’t safe for  _ me  _ here. _

“Someone’s eventually going to want to see him without his mask. I’ll always have to be on guard.”

_ Unless I want to end up cornered in another dark hallway.  _

Sett heard what she meant as clearly as if she’d said it aloud. 

Damn, that really had happened. Her first night at the pit and… Sett would never claim his pit was a particularly respectable establishment -- he probably broke more rules every night running it than most people broke in their lives -- but it shouldn’t be that bad. He didn’t  _ want  _ it to be that bad. Those guys had been caught. He’d beat them bloody himself. But should he tell her that now? It’d been two months ago. She’d just throw her walls up again if he said anything about it now. 

Fine. Ryo would mention it to her tomorrow. And if he said any damn thing more than what Sett told him to, there  _ would  _ be hell. He’d been lenient for a while through all of this. Now he was pissed off because things were becoming too complicated too fast. Damn that Kindred or whatever god was weaving the loom of fate for him. Sett liked keeping it simple and things weren’t simple right now. He needed room to think and sort through all this or simply shove it to the side to think about another day. And let that day never come. That sounded like a game plan. For now, he had just been watching her. 

Reaper -- her stage name, her new name. A name she might come to hate if things weren’t addressed properly. Another thing for Ryo to talk to her about tomorrow then. 

This honestly could be spun to his advantage. Kill two birds with one stone and all that. Well, three birds if everything fell into place correctly. 

Everything was sorted once again. Sett stepped back into the moment and checked that his poker face was still intact. All she would have seen was the Boss considering her for a long moment. Finally, he spoke. 

~

“I’ve got a small safehouse tucked away near the pit,” Sett said. “It’s clean and has all the amenities you could need.” 

You blinked. There’d been a minute of stretching silence as he’d studied you and this was what he had to say at the end of it. You’d half expected the Boss to give some ludicrous advice like “just beat the crap out of anyone who looks at you funny.” But that offer instead… 

He must have seen the way you tensed because his next words were, “I’ll charge you rent for it if you want, but it should be free of charge if you agree to work for me outside of fighting as Reaper.” 

So Sett must have heard from Ashe and Ryo that you had ideas for the pit. You wanted this place to grow to legendary stature. And you wanted to be a part of that legend. Still, Sett was being awfully nice about it. He had been kinda nice this whole evening. Well. Not nice, per se. More like… generous? So obviously he had to be up to something. 

All these thoughts and more were the justification for asking your next question, you told yourself. That’s why you tried to bait him with the snide remark, “Need a secretary?”

The Boss’s smirk returned at the very least. “I was thinking more along the lines of a masseuse,” he purred, rolling his shoulders in emphasis.

“Bastard,” you hissed. Always had a smartass comeback. But at least he wasn’t staring at you anymore. At least he wasn’t looking too closely at your words, at the reason why you were fidgeting so much under his gaze. 

No, Sett just grinned and told you what he actually wanted from you.

“I feel like I should get paid a little extra on top of rent if you’re really going to have me do this,” you cringed.

“We’ll discuss it more in depth tomorrow. For now, you need to shower and tend to your injuries.” He nodded at your hands. Your hands that you’d been hiding behind your bag all night. Damn him. Ashe and Ryo hadn’t said a word about them all night. They’d been nice enough to let you suffer the consequences of your own actions in silence. But this asshole… 

“I’m fine,” you replied coolly.

“I don’t think you are. I’ve grabbed a whip sword by the blade too and it wasn’t pleasant.” Another smirk pulled at his lips and Sett said, as if he couldn’t resist, “It’s a real pain to wash yourself with cuts like those.” 

You deadpanned. “Why don’t you join me then. Why don’t you help me shower.”

Giving voice to what Sett was suggesting -- you had hoped it would make him see how genuinely ridiculous it was. It didn’t. It backfired horrendously and you were left scrambling after the Boss when he deftly responded, “I thought you’d never ask, sweetheart” and walked into the bathroom. 

For the (insert ridiculously high number here) time this night, your face flushed red. “It was a joke, asshole.” You stormed into the bathroom after him. “I don’t need your help to shower, I just need --”

“A change of clothes, I know.”

Sett was actually just there turning on the water and checking the temperature for you. He set a clean towel by the shower door and turned to face you again with no sign of his smirk or smile. It was odd how often they came and went with no warning.

“I’ve got a spare shirt or two you could borrow for the night.”

“Wow. You actually own a shirt?”

There it was again. He tossed some hair off his face. “I don’t wear them often, but yeah. I’ll dig around a bit and leave ‘em on the back of the door.” 

It occurred to you, just then, to say thank you. He was walking away and… well, it was only polite to say thank you. But he’d probably twist it in some way and tease you for it. But you’d still have the moral high ground with being polite. And he’d be the worst for teasing you for something as basic as that. 

So just before he closed the bathroom door behind him, you said, very quietly, “thank you.”

He paused briefly and looked back at you, not a hint of amusement or a trace of that condescending smirk to be seen. Sett nodded. Then walked away.

~

A nice enough moment for the time being and you thought about it while you were showering. (FUCK your hands hurt the entire time. NEVER wash your hair with open wounds on your hands if they’re not covered up because hair WILL get in them and slide through them and it’s a PAIN and feels weird.)

Anyways, everything was fine. You thought the night would end on that relatively polite note. But NO. NO. Because when you opened the shower door and stepped out and looked around and the mirror was all fogged up from the steam and the towel was nice and fluffy and clean and now wrapped around you, you looked and beheld what shirt Sett had left you. And NO you would not put up with that bullshit. 

~

Sett glanced up at his bathroom door which had opened with a loud BANG.

“What the hell is this?”

That girl of hellfire and rage was positively seething as she stood in the doorway, wearing Sett’s shirt, clean and white and long enough to cover everything important. But her problem with it was probably…

Sett smirked. “You look thoroughly tumbled.”

And she did. Wearing an oversized, rumpled dress shirt and nothing else, face flushed and hair messy from coming straight out of the shower.

“You don’t own any other shirt?!”

“Do you think a different shirt would have made a difference?” 

She pressed the palm of her hand to her forehead, closing her eyes and tilting her head back. “I never should have agreed to this. I never should have put up with you past that first day.”

“I dunno.” Sett took another long look at her, his grin wide and eyes glowing gold. “I kinda like seeing you in my clothes. And imagine how good you’d look in my colors too.”

Her face turned another shade darker and she threw her wet towel at him. Sett caught it just before it hit his face, but she was already launching into another scathing barrage of words. 

“You’re the absolute worst, you know that? I’m taking the bed tonight, to hell with your stupid sheets and stupid silk. You’d probably ruin them yourself thinking about me all night long.”

And she indeed clambered onto Sett’s bed and burrowed her way beneath his blanket without even another glance in his direction. Very, very ballsy of her. But it was just more ammunition for the Boss.

“Probably,” he conceded. “Guess I’ll have to settle for ruining the couch tonight instead.” 

There was mostly silence from her. Then came a quiet, angry, “I really, really hate you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A civilized interaction between characters? In MY writing? Terrible! Get it outta here!
> 
> Side note, any ideas on how this is going? Cause I sure as hell don’t know. It’s a madhouse up in here.
> 
> Another side note I suppose: Thanks for all the support and encouragement. I really enjoy seeing other people enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A talking chapter. You wake up in the Boss's bed and make an upsetting discovery. And then you find out something even more interesting about said upsetting discovery. And then you have a moment of self discovery. And then there's some talking about it.

You were barely stirring from sleep when you heard a door creak open and footsteps approach. It was quite a time after daybreak if the strong sunbeams filtering through the curtains had any say about it. They made the white bedsheets glow bright and warm. You scooted further into them before settling down once again and letting your mind drift. 

Sett had gotten up some time back. You’d heard him moving around the room and getting dressed but hadn’t particularly cared enough to get up yourself. He was still here somewhere doing something, of that you were sure. And those light, sure footsteps were likely Ryo coming in to talk to the Boss. 

And his voice broke the silence as he made some stupid comment about it being the “morning after™” and confirmed the identity of those footsteps and you chucked a pillow at Ryo without even looking up. His laugh was cut short by Sett telling him to shut up and leave “little Reaper” alone. You gave huff of something in between indignation and gratitude and let yourself fade in and out of consciousness. It was a lazy morning, yeah, but you deserved it, didn’t you?

Yesterday was your first fight as Reaper and you had all stayed up late and Sett was a pain in the ass and good god your mind really had not woken up yet. What was going on? Ryo and Sett were talking business on the couch… The pit actually took quite a bit to manage, huh? Or… it’s because it’s the end of the week. Or was it what you and Sett had touched briefly on last night? His plans for you and the pit? You really didn’t have the mind about you to focus on the boys’ conversation and instead relished a few more moments in bed. 

It was the first good night’s sleep you had gotten in a while. The inn you’d been staying at left something to be desired in most departments, most of all the bedding. But this bed was huge and soft and the silk sheets really did feel absolutely amazing. They had been cold when you’d first felt them last night but they’d quickly warmed to your body and had maintained the perfect temperature to keep you asleep all night.

You curled up and tucked your face into the long sleeves of your pajama shirt. And besides all the good pillows and the nice blankets and sheets, it smelled nice. Like warmth and sunshine and safety. But there was something else too, something vaguely… floral.

Huh.

Your bed never smelled like flowers. And neither did Ashe’s or the inn’s or even Ryo’s that one night he’d let you sleep over. Your brain was a bit slow on the uptake but all at once panic shot through you as you remembered  _ exactly  _ where you were, whose bed this was, and why these sheets might smell like that. Sett’s bed. This was Sett’s bed and you were still in his shirt and oh god how many other girls had slept here like this? Whose perfume were you smelling? 

The thought almost made you retch. With the grace of a flightless bird and the poise of a crippled gazelle, you fell out of bed and scrambled away from it.

Ryo was the first to speak and he was just blinking, too surprised at your sudden flurry of movement to even smile. “Took a bit of a tumble there, didja?” 

“No,” you snapped. “I landed exactly where I wanted to. And you.” An accusatory finger pointed at Sett as you ceased your attempts to kick the sheets off yourself and instead focused the whole of your wrath on the pit boss. “Why didn’t you warn me about the bed?”

Sett raised his eyebrows slightly, papers in hand momentarily forgotten. “What about it?”

“It smells like women’s perfume,” you seethed. “Normally I’d say what you do in your free time is your own business, but I don’t appreciate the fact that you let me sleep in a bed you’ve taken someone else on recently.”

You realized your mistake as soon as Ryo glanced at the Boss with wide eyes and a corner of Sett’s mouth pulled up in a smirk. 

“‘Someone else’, huh?”

The huge half vastayan rose from his seat and strode over to where you were still sitting on the floor, bare legs tangled in silk and your fucking pajama top askew. Shit, he was tall and you couldn’t even rise to meet him with your stupid legs stuck. You must have looked every bit the part of those girls you didn’t know and yet hated. 

Sett crouched down on his haunches and tilted his head at you. “You’re sounding a bit jealous, Reap.” He gave a meaningful tug on the sheets wrapped around your lower legs. “And lookin’ a bit stuck.” 

Those damnable gold eyes stayed focused on your own, but you wouldn’t doubt they saw everything. You covered your chest with the not-so-subtle crossing of your arms and glared right back at the Boss. “That wasn’t what I meant and you know it.”

“Sure,” Sett said. “And I’m kinda disappointed by that too.”

He’s disappointed. The freakin’ nerve of this guy… You deadpanned, “what else are you disappointed by? You say you’re disappointed by that ‘too’? Tell me what else.”

The Boss’s hands went to unwrapping his bedsheets from around your legs, his eyes flicking down to guide them. “I’m disappointed you think so little of me, sweetheart.” Your legs were now free but Sett had a hold on the crook of your knee, on the same leg he’d grabbed during your sparring match all that time ago. How the hell did he even remember stuff like that? 

A little yank had you pulled closer to and a bit under him. “What have I ever done to make you hate me so much?”

That was a load of bullshit. Completely faked innocence. What hadn’t this bastard done to make you hate him? And he knew it, too. He just liked playing games. He just liked watching you squirm. And he was probably just trying to distract you from the matter at hand, goddammit. You cut to the chase with a question as direct as it could get. 

“Why do the sheets smell like ladies perfume, Sett?”

The Boss didn’t say anything for a moment, probably waiting for some sort of blush or flustered fidgeting. You would give him no such satisfaction anymore. You were pissed at him and needed an explanation. Now.

Finally, Sett gave up. He straightened with a sigh and smirked down at you. “It reminds me of my ma,” he said. 

“It-- What?”

“Reminds me of my ma, Reaper.” 

The Boss extended a hand to help you up. You hesitantly accepted it and rose with no effort as he literally pulled you up himself. Taking a step back, you looked Sett up and down. He looked the same as always, a huge half vastayan pit boss that managed to snag the title of “most annoying idiot you’ve ever met.” He had exactly one brain cell and it was in his dick, the stupid, egocentric Chad. But… his sheets smelled like perfume… that reminded him of his mom.

“Didn’t expect the great pit boss to be a momma’s boy, huh?”

“Shut up, Ryo.”

No, you honestly hadn’t. And as Sett walked back over to reclaim his seat on the couch, you were reminded of something you’d said to him your first night here. 

‘You took in my brother and now he looks up to you. That means you can’t be all that bad.’

You’d said that, but had you really acknowledged it? The boys went on talking business and you folded the bed sheets you’d made a mess of. Ashe really did respect the Boss. He was always on your case about giving Sett a chance, that he was better than he let on. But you had been fucking pissed. You were always pissed and it made you miss out on the best things in life. What was there to do about it now? You supposed a sort of starting over with Sett would help. Hell, you could start your life over. You were with the pit now and you could forget about all the shitty stuff that had you messed up in the first place. 

Yes, that was what you would do. You realized you were probably sounding like a broken record at this point. You had promised yourself ages ago that you would seize life by the balls, that you would try respecting Sett, but then he’d fucked you over with that embarrassing sparring session and you were back to square one. But you’d gladly return to square one no matter how many times it took you. Fixing your attitude and perspective was a time consuming process. It didn’t all have to be done in one day. At least that’s what you told yourself. Kindred almighty, you hoped it was true. Otherwise you were kinda screwed. 

That being decided, you finished up and took the armchair positioned between the two couches Ryo and Sett sat at. Now to catch up on whatever the hell they were discussing. It wasn’t exactly a simple task, but you got the gist of what was going on. 

“--bastard’s been keeping all of his tricks a secret. I haven’t been able to hear about anything that goes on in his den.”

“And why isn’t this a job for me or Ashe?”

“You’re too damn loud, Ryo. And Ashe is…” 

They both seemed to remember your presence at the same time and glanced over at you. 

You recoiled at their looks. “What? He’s mute. It’s only weird because you guys are making it weird.” 

Ryo threw up his hands in defense. “I just didn’t want to get pummeled into the ground. Ashe told me some stories about when you were growing up.”

You had beat up all the bullies in town, that was right. Your eyes shot over to Sett. “And do you have an explanation or apology?”

“Nope. Just glad to have you here, sweetheart.”

“Well, I’ll make up for you then.” You bowed your head over your folded hands. “I apologize for my assumption. I shouldn’t have judged you when I clearly don’t know a thing about you.”

Ryo blinked. Sett almost looked genuinely surprised. (He never got much further than a condescending eyebrow raise.) Then his eyebrows returned to their normal position and he smirked. 

“Imagine that.”

~

“Hey Ryo? What can you tell me about the Boss?”

The dark man glanced back at the Reaper who was following a few paces behind. He was helping carry her few belongings to Sett’s safehouse she was apparently moving into. It wasn’t part of the Boss’s instructions for the day, but he figured he should help her just as a friend. And maybe he could wriggle in the conversations Sett wanted Ryo to have with her along the way.

“Thinking about this morning?” he asked.

She nodded. “It came as a complete shock to me. The big bad pit boss has a soft spot for his mom.”

Ryo had to give her pause at that. She said it with such tenderness. Laughter played in the tone of it, but sorrow was the hidden melody. Ashe had told him a little bit about their mother. She’d passed away when Ashe was nine, when Reaper was six. And everything had gone downhill from there. 

“You’ve certainly seemed to lighten up on him because of it,” Ryo noted. “I don’t think the two of you fought once this morning. (Past the first sheets fiasco.)”

Reaper snorted. “We were talking business. No point in dragging the meeting out for the entire day.”

_ Which is definitely what would have happened. _ Ryo heard it as clearly as if she said it. 

“Anyways, you forgot to answer my question.” Ryo slowed his pace by a considerable margin so they were walking side by side. Reaper tossed her hair to one side and readjusted the boxes in her hands. “What can you tell me about Sett?”

“It’s no fun if I come out and tell you everything at once,” Ryo smiled. 

She stuck her tongue out at him. 

Now this was the side Sett never got to see. The side that only came out with Ashe or whenever Ryo wasn’t being an ass. Which happened fairly often when he was only around one person at a time. That was probably the only reason Ashe hadn’t smothered him in his sleep yet. Ryo could actually be a nice guy when he wanted to be. Was it his true identity behind what Ashe liked to call his ‘masks’? Sure. He just liked pushing buttons and testing limits. 

“How’s this though?” 

They had reached the safehouse now and Ryo bent to set his armful of boxes down. He fished out a key from his jacket pocket and went to unlock the door.

“We trade questions for questions. I’ll tell you what I think is appropriate about the Boss and the pit and myself and in return…”

“I answer your questions about me and Ashe?”

He leaned in all conspiratorial like as he was picking up his boxes once again. “Yes. It’ll be our secret though. Very hush hush, you know.” 

Reaper walked past him through the open doorway. “But of course, Ryo dearest.”

And then they laughed like rich folk laughing over tea time gossip before pausing and realizing they had one brain cell combined but they could be weird as hell  _ together. _ This was the sort of relationship Ryo had formed with Reaper over her two months of training. She was surprisingly fun and odd. She had a bit of a temper and a hell of a competitive streak, but she could laugh and have fun too. Just seemingly not when it came to the Boss.

“So who’s going first?” 

“Me,” Ryo stated as if it were obvious. “But first we explore!” 

And he shoved that girl of fire and storm over in a rush to find the bedroom to Sett’s ‘safehouse’ first and see what dirty secrets might be hidden there. She gave a loud “hey!” in protest and ran after him simply to not lose the competition. The place was pretty big, yes, but it was empty and dusty and it was easy to find the room that was meant to be slept in -- it was the only one with a bed. Sadly, it was completely barren save for said bed. No hidden diaries or weird, kinky sex toys that he could poke fun at the Boss for. The dark man sighed and turned to leave just as Reaper caught up to him.

“What was that for?” she panted. It really was a huge building for something supposed to be an inconspicuous safehouse. 

“I wanted to see the bedroom. And look, we’re here so we can start decorating it with all your things.” 

The girl glowered. “We didn’t bring my things. They’re still in the entryway.”

“Ah,” Ryo snapped his fingers, “darn. Looks like we’ll have more time to play our game though.”

“Hurry up and ask the question then.”

“So impatient, Reaper. Fine.” He started the walk back to the entryway. “Begin with telling me what happened last night.”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s so vague. Nothing happened between me and Sett if that’s what you’re hoping for.”

“No, no, I could tell that from a mile away. I was wondering what happened with you in the fight last night.” Ryo watched her through the corner of his eye. “It was your first and I know the first can be a bit daunting.”

Faked nonchalance. A forced shrug. “It was fine. I won pretty easily. All I’m paying for are these damn cuts.” She held up her bandaged hands in emphasis. “They make showering really damn hard.”

They had reached the entryway crowded with boxes and picked them up to once again head to the safehouse’s bedroom. “Well I mostly meant the way you carved that boy’s face up with your sickle. You know, towards the end of the fight.” 

The tremor was very slight, but Ryo saw it go through her. Reaper readjusted the boxes in her arm as they had shook a little with her and looked away when she saw Ryo watching. “Yeah, it was something I read in a book once.” 

“Pretty nasty book.”

“I thought it was pretty cool.” 

Silence stretched until they set their boxes down on the mattress with a heavy  _ whump. _ Reaper sat next to her stack and looked at her hands. Her voice was quiet when she next spoke.

“I cried afterwards.”

Ryo lowered himself down next to her.

“It was in some alley on the way to the tavern. I just kept thinking about what I’d done to him… It made me feel sick.” She tried a laugh. “I threw up, you know. Puked all over the ground. Because I kept thinking… he’s stuck with that brand forever. I’ve never had anyone hate me before. But now I’m certain that boy does.” 

Ryo wrapped his arm around the girl and felt her stiffen, then relax. She leaned into him as he stroked his thumb up and down her shoulder.

“I know I made the choice to do that -- I didn’t even talk to Ashe or you about it, really. Fighting in the pit just makes you blind to some things, huh?”

That’s what Ryo had warned her. She’d obviously heard him, but she hadn’t known to listen as well. Now she was going to be chained down with guilt for as long as that Shuriman kid had her mark. Sett had known something was up last night. He’d likely invited her back to his room because of it. Meanwhile Ryo had been too preoccupied with his own scheming to notice. The Boss really had to tell him to talk to her about it. Otherwise Ryo would have assumed little Reaper was fine. Some friend he was. 

“I’m sorry I -- we -- couldn’t have helped.”

She pulled away suddenly, her eyes wide and fearful. “Ashe can’t know, Ryo,” she pleaded. “He won’t let me fight in the pit again if he knows how badly I handled it this time.”

Ryo shushed her gently. “That’s because you didn’t know what to expect. No one handles their first fight with much grace. I drank myself to sleep after my debut in the pit and Ashe was quiet for days after his.” A frown pulled at his lips as he realized what he said. “Well,” he amended, “quieter.” 

Reaper gave a small smile at that. “And Sett?”

“It’s a story I’m sure you could get out of him,” Ryo said. “I haven’t heard about his first one in the pit, but he got into a lot of fights as a kid. After his first one, he-- Wait, am I answering this question for free? That’s not gonna fly, Reap.”

She whined and pulled at his sleeve. “C’mon, are you not even gonna finish? What’d he do? How young was he?” 

Ryo bonked her head in the way he’d seen Ashe do a thousand times. She whined again but he was standing up now and ushered her up as well. “I’m gonna be here all night if we don’t start unpacking right now. My advice to you is to figure out what you really want from the pit.” 

The girl settled at the once again serious turn of the conversation.

“Are you willing to give up some of your nights to nightmares and guilt? Are you willing to suffer the consequences of having a masked character? I know Sett gave you this place so you wouldn’t have to stay at the pit. Are you really willing to let others bet on your life in a fight to the death?” Ryo’s face softened when he saw how his words were affecting her. It was hard to remember she was still just a kid. 

“Think about what you want from the pit. I don’t want you to come to hate yourself or the character you created.” The dark man tilted his head to the side with a smile. “I kinda like being able to call you Reaper.” 

“I know,” she murmured. “I like being called it too.” 

Well that was another topic to unpack another day. Ryo already had enough of that on his plate both literally and figuratively. All was quiet for a bit and he set to work opening boxes and setting their contents on the bed while she seemed to soak in his sage advice. 

_ Truly,  _ Ryo thought to himself,  _ I’m amazing. _

“I can hear your ego inflating from over here,” Reaper muttered. 

Ryo stopped posing dramatically and glanced over. “Oh yeah, forgot you were here. Ready to actually help me unpack your things, darling?”

“Only if you’ll finish that story you were telling about Sett.” 

“Sure, sure, that one. It’ll count as your question for this round though.” And ignoring her cries of protest, the wise Ryo finished his story.

~

Ryo paused for what he surely thought was dramatic effect but it really just made you want to punch him even more.“Where was I?”

Honestly, he could go from a great listener and helpful friend to a complete airhead in less than two seconds. “Sett got into his first fight when he was a kid,” you reminded him.

“Ah, yes. Yeah, he just went home crying to his mom.” 

You choked and spluttered, “You’ve gotta be kidding me!”

“No, that’s what he told me. I distinctly remember.”

The urge to throttle Ryo was certainly swelling. “I mean is that it? Do I at least get to know how old Sett was or, I don’t know, who he was fighting?”

Raising an eyebrow, Ryo slithered over to you. “Why the sudden interest in Sett’s childhood, missy? Was he correct in hearing a hint of jealousy this morning? You seemed rather upset over the prospect of his other lovers.” 

“He detected a hint of shut your face,” you snapped. “That counts as your stupid question for this round.”

Ryo laughed and nodded, resuming his unpacking of your few clothes and underwear. It would probably be considered improper to allow him to continue, but it wasn’t like he was Sett or anything so you didn’t care. You had to think of a good question right now. You were positively brimming with them this morning, but that serious talk just now had your head feeling a bit empty. Your hands hovered over the bag you’d initially ran away from home with.

There wasn’t much inside, but it held one of your most prized possessions, one your father hadn’t managed to find and destroy: a locket from Ashe for your thirteenth birthday. Inside was a drawing of your mom and a lock of her hair. He had his own little keepsake of her and wanted you to have this. Memories from that day began to seep into your mind when Ryo’s annoying voice pierced the room out of the blue.

“You’re very unhelpful, you know. Remind me not to invite you to help if I ever move somewhere.” 

You shot the dark man a glare and stuffed the bag under your soon-to-be bed. “Why are you sometimes so nice and caring and then other times just a complete butt?”

“Is that your question?” Ryo drawled.

_ Oh shoot.  _

“No,” you quickly snapped. “My question is, uh…” Your mind once again drifted to that bag under the bed, to the hair in that small locket. 

“Well… what’s Sett actually like? I kind of had a bad opinion of him from the start. Him acting like an ass didn’t exactly help, but I knew virtually nothing about him. And yet I was judging him all the same.” You glanced down, self conscious of Ryo’s eyes on you. “I feel bad. I try not to be like that most of the time but Sett…” You laughed without humor. “He’s infuriating. I want to knock him on his ass pretty much constantly. He brings out the worst in me and it’s annoying.” 

Ryo again left what he was doing and walked over to where you were sitting on the bed. He placed a heavy hand on your shoulder that had you looking up at him. His eyes were surprisingly soft for a topic you were sure he’d be jumping around about. There was a small smile on his face, but that was just his default expression. It said nothing about what was truly going on in Ryo’s head.

“You’ll have to wait for Sett to tell you himself,” Ryo told you. “I know I proposed this game in the first place, but there are some things I just don’t feel comfortable sharing behind his back. Those ‘things’ primarily being aspects of his past and personality that are better told by him.” 

You arched an eyebrow. “Is this out of fear he’ll hear about it and punch your lights out?”

“No, it’s because I’m afraid I’ll tell it wrong.” 

He went back to sorting through your things. “There are some things worse than getting your head smashed into the ground, Reaper. One of those things is betraying the trust of someone you respect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man. I’m just realizing this now but I guess you could say she had a prejudice against him. (Please get this reference, it's not a very good one at all.)
> 
> Scrapped dialogue path:  
> “Nothing happened between me and Sett if that’s what you’re hoping for.”  
> “No, no, I could tell that from a mile away.”  
> “How?”  
> (Wide, unashamed grin.) “Cause you weren’t limping when you got up this morning.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new foe has appeared!
> 
> The Scourge  
> Joins the Battle!

It took you some time to think over everything. 

‘Not everything happens quickly or in the span of one night.’ ‘A delayed decision can be good, but a rushed one will never be.’ Other cliches to excuse how long it took you to figure out how exactly to proceed. 

For days after that morning with the Boss and your talk with Ryo, you avoided Sett. He wasn’t very happy about it at first, but when he brought up the issue and heard you needed time to think, he was more than willing to give you some space. It was probably the most consideration you’d ever given him. In fact, oftentimes you actively  _ avoided  _ thinking about him. So hearing you were dedicating entire days to mule over your relationship with the pit and what it meant for your future… smug smirks aside, Sett was content to leave you be.

It wasn’t gonna be like the first time. Your first night at the pit had been a snapshot decision. Sure it hadn’t led you astray yet, but your fight with the Shuriman boy had definitely changed you. For better or for worse was yet to be decided, but it shouldn’t have been like that. It shouldn’t have been such a shock, such a surprise, such a horrible, gut wrenching realization to you. Hmmm, yes. If you were going to keep living as an adult, you needed to actually think about what you were doing. An annoying predicament, but one every person has to go through as they grow older. 

You shuddered at the thought.  _ Gross.  _

“What’s going on, Reaper?”

Ryo was staring at you from across the desk, head propped up tiredly on the palm of his hand. 

“I hate that thinking is required to live,” you grumble.

The dark man shrugged. “I mean it’s not really. I’ve gotten pretty far with an empty head.” He wrapped his knuckles on top of his skull. It made a comically hollow sound. “No thoughts for me.” 

You glared at your friend, pencil tapping on the papers in front of you. “Some teacher you are, not even practicing what you preach.”

“You wanna spy for Sett? You gotta learn everything I teach and take it to heart.” Ryo stretched out of his seat in a yawn which transitioned into a dramatic pose where he was leaning way back with a hand hovering over his closed eyes. “You aren’t pretty enough to get away with an empty head. Unlike m--”

There was a crash in the room and oh no, Ryo’s on the floor. Somehow his chair got kicked out from under him, how did that happen?

From his compromising position on the ground, Ryo’s head whipped around to see you studying his reports very diligently and whistling a jolly tune. The picture of innocence and obedience. See, you  _ had _ been learning something useful. Through all of your friend’s lessons on trickery and deceit, you had been able to trick him into thinking you were innocent.

He said, “Wow, how did I fall over like that? Must have been the wind.” 

Only not really. Ryo said so many vulgar things that really need not be repeated. You laughed your triumphant ass off through it all. 

Even your brother Ashe (who often shied away from bad language) couldn’t help but smile at your guys’s display of love and friendship. His presence had been almost entirely forgotten since he was so far away on Sett’s couch reading a book, but Ryo cursing like a Bilgerat and you cackling like a mad Zaunite was more than enough to draw his attention. He left you two like that even when you started gasping for breath and Ryo began laughing too. Eventually both of you were on the floor clutching your stomachs and exhausted, the lesson plan on Sett’s desk entirely forgotten about. 

It was only then that your brother walked over and offered any help. It was Ashe that got the last laugh.

“You two are idiots,” he proclaimed. And that was pretty much that. 

The day after that, Ashe worked you hard in the ring. Every day was full of activity even if you hadn’t confirmed what was on your mind about the pit. All your friends basically knew what you would decide anyways and so continued your lessons without pause. If you weren’t learning how to read people and playing word games with Ryo until your head hurt, you were honing your skills in the pit with Ashe. 

There was a particular session that set an unfortunate trend for the rest of your time training. A truly hellish occurrence that you would never wish upon another living soul. 

Ashe always situated you with your back to the door during sparring sessions. This was so you wouldn’t get distracted by anyone walking in or out or any potential spectators. But goddamn you didn’t expect your brother to allow you to keep going when both Sett and Ryo were watching, trading comments, and whatever else idiots do in their spare time. You got mad when you found out they were watching. Who you were mad and exactly why were too vexing of questions so you decided not to consider them. Instead you just pointed the boys to the exit. 

“Get out. Find something else to do, nosy snoops.”

Sett smirked a bit at that. It was a sight you hadn’t seen in a while and one that used to make your vision blur red. But right now there was nothing. You didn’t hate it, you told yourself. What you did hate were the next words out of the Boss’s mouth.

He leaned on the training ring’s ropes, for once looking up at you since the training ring was elevated, and said, “Nothing’s more fun than watching you, sweetheart. Come on, let’s have a quickie.” 

You were doing so well in training your mind to see Sett’s words as simple, teasing remarks instead of attacks and challenges. Because that was, for the most part, what they were. Ever since you’d begun having to spend more time with the Boss, he’d stopped being so aggressive towards you. The challenges he posed were for fun and to save you from whatever horrible spiral your mind was sending you down. He was a good guy. Kind of. But the way he chose to express that was infuriating and inappropriate and always, always,  _ always,  _ annoying. 

“A  _ what? _ ,” you growled, fingers curling beside you like they’d suddenly sprouted claws.

Ryo, in the meantime, was suppressing his laughter next to a still smirking Sett, shuffling out of your line of sight so he could properly convey how truly amused he was by his boss’s verbiage without risking a punch to the balls. Asshole. Probably sneaking around back to rescue Ashe and snicker with him a safe distance away. 

Sett stepped through the ropes effortlessly and stood once again to his full height, towering above you. Some hair had fallen over his face as he’d leaned over to get into the ring. Now he threw it back with a slight shake of his head. 

Fuck, it was so easy to say you hated him. But you weren’t allowing yourself to anymore. And what was up with that? You had to keep your progress, that’s right. It’s not an attack or an affront, he’s just silly and stupid. But he’s good. At his core he’s good. That really didn’t solve your desire to punch him though. And what was up with that? Dammit, that was a heavy question to unpack. So you’d unpack it later, surely. Deal with it then. 

Your glower had deepened in the fraction of a second it’d taken you to think all those thoughts and Sett took notice of it. “A quickie, Reaper: something done or made quickly. In our case, it’d be a quick sparring match.” He bent slightly to catch your eye. “What were you thinking of that got you so riled up?”

Stupid, smug, pompous bastard. 

“That’s one denotation of the word, Sett, and no doubt you knew that when you said it. But literally everyone else in this room --” you gestured to Ashe, Ryo, and yourself “-- knows you meant a different one. One with more unsavory connotations.”

Sett stared at you a second longer, his face unreadable and his golden eyes trained on your own. He was thinking, you easily knew that much. What, exactly, he was thinking about was the harder mystery to unravel.

The Boss straightened and shrugged, turning so you couldn’t study his face anymore. “It’s a shame I only understood about half of what you just said. Otherwise I would come up with a witty retort like maybe I wasn’t playing for a word game of ‘denotations’ and ‘connotations’ and you just have a dirty, dirty mind that likes to try and force cleverness upon others to validate the reason why they’re blushing so much at what turns out to be a casual request for a quick bout of battle.” 

Sett flashed a smirk at you over his shoulder from where he’d walked to the opposite side of the training ring. “But alas, I was distracted by your pretty face and only listened to a quarter of what came out of your mouth.”

Liar. He was such a liar. And you wanted to tell him that too. But Ashe had other ideas. Before you could even open your mouth to talk back, your brother was throwing you a wooden training sword and pointing for you to go at Sett. 

The Boss was already positioned to receive you. What the hell? Did they talk about this beforehand? Plan it out without you knowing? Was it a part of training? For Sett to throw you off balance and then you’d have to throw yourself at him? Fine then, you could follow up.

You hefted your sword to rest near your shoulder and took a moment to breathe before rushing in at the Boss. 

~

It didn’t go well. That’s all that needs to be said.

The details of the fight needn’t be explained because frankly, you were much too tired and sore to recall what happened past your first charge at Sett. Long story short, he’d thrown you around like a ragdoll. The first time you sparred with him couldn’t even begin to compare with the utter power and control he demonstrated here. He’d barely been attacking during that initial match. It was to test out your abilities so you were on display for the most part. But now the Boss was treating you as an equal in the ring and that meant taking his punches, throws, and locks in stride. He was still definitely pulling them so as not to hurt you, but it was still pretty crazy. 

You were downed so many times you lost count. Finally, when even stubbornness and spite couldn’t get your limbs to move, you admitted defeat.

“No weird, compromising positions this time please,” you mumbled. “I’ve learned when to cut my losses.” 

Ryo snorted. “Like hell you have. You should have yielded nine moves ago. At least then you’d still be able to move.” 

But you could move. You moved your mouth in sync with his words, bobbing your head back and forth with as much energy as you could expend. One corner of Ashe’s mouth quirked up in a smile but Ryo also saw and said, “hey.”

“Nag, nag, nag. I’m building up my stamina, stupid.”

And from where he was on the far side of the ring unwrapping his knuckles, the Boss hummed, “Mhm. She’s gonna need it, Ryo.” 

There were a few seconds of silence as everyone took in what he said and debated whether or not to call him out on what may or may not have been another innuendo. You didn’t want to be the one to bring it up -- Sett had turned it back on you last time. Ashe had no place talking about any of that stuff either so he wouldn’t be the one to speak. Luckily Ryo was still present and he could get away with the dumb enough question of, “What does she need it for, hmmm?”

“Workouts with me. Every other day, up and early before the rest of the pit wakes up.”

Oh.

Any last dregs of strength fled your body at the prospect of training with Sett. He was going to wreck your body.

Sett caught onto the pitying smile the boys were casting your way and dropped another gleaming piece of news, “And her next fight as Reaper.” 

Oh?

Ryo shifted next to Ashe. Your brother tilted his head. You shrugged. That made you feel a little better. At least you wouldn’t be destroying your body for nothing. 

“I take it you have something in mind?”

He did. 

~

Later that day in Sett’s room, he explained what he wanted from you and why fighting this particular man would be in your best interest too. 

“Stay in the shadows for too long without making a move and people will forget about you. Dryden’s a rising star too and it doesn’t help that his methods are similar to yours.”

“Similar how?”

“He has a tendency to carve the flesh of his opponents. Torture them to death as it were.” 

“The Reaper--”

“I know the Reaper has standards and restraint, but the Scourge doesn’t.”

Your eyes flicker in understanding at that nickname.

“This pit is a hive of angst and peasantry. People love seeing blood spill. So they love watching the Scourge fight. You gotta take control of the spotlight. Eliminate this guy and other fighters will know not to cramp on your style.

“You’re aiming for the top, sweetheart?”

You look up into Sett’s burning, golden eyes. You nod.

“Better be ready to drag people down.”

~

Another time Dryden came up was during practice. And that’s literal. Dryden literally came up to you during practice one day.

You should have known something was fishy from the beginning. Ashe, oddly enough, had dragged you over to train in the west wing of the pit for the day. Not only that, he had changed your routine and lesson plan. He was having you practice moving faster and thinking on the fly, utilizing Ryo’s lessons to predict how your opponent would next move and meet them accordingly. 

As per usual, your back was to the doorway of the training room. Ashe was normally good at keeping his eye on his opponent (hence why he got to face the doorway), but today his focus seemed to be drifting. Specifically to behind you. You never glanced back though, instead taking the momentary distraction and using it to your advantage. It ended with your brother on his back numerous times and he nodded his approval to you, terse though it was. You simply thought it was part of the lesson. Until three hours in when Ashe’s eyes wandered and then his face turned white.

He’d frozen in fear and you hadn't even a moment to wonder why before you felt a tap on your shoulder. With the mix of dopamine and adrenaline pumping through your veins from physical activity and the sheer panic pounding in your chest at the prospect of an unknown foe materializing behind you, your mind switched to fight or flight mode. Ashe was taking a step forward and your hand was blindly swinging back -- 

Then everything came to a stop as a vice-like grip took hold of your wrist. 

With still no idea of who the hell was behind you and your brother’s growing alarm causing you to worry even more, you stomped down on the inside of your captor’s foot. There was pained laughter as that grip vanished from your arm. You hurried over to Ashe and took up a steady stance beside him. Only then did you turn. Only then did you finally receive a face to pair with the Scourge and his fearsome reputation. 

Honestly, your first thought was that he looked like a warrior from Ionian myth. Garbed in traditional swordsman’s robes with his long hair hanging loose to his waist, you were nearly deceived to think he cut a handsome figure. But something was wrong. Today had been a set up. This man was bad news.

He straightened from favoring the foot you’d stomped on and took all of one second before having a smile plastered on his face as he said, “Wow, you’re pretty. Sorry for the scare, I just had no idea who you were. And then you were about to hit me so…”

You’d been in the middle of a spar when he’d popped in. Anyone would have lashed out reflexively at a sudden tap on the shoulder.

“Sorry about that too,” the stranger added, nodding to the wrist you hadn’t even noticed you’d been rubbing. “I have a hard time controlling my strength sometimes.”

Ashe peeked around your shoulder to look at your arm. The pain was finally starting to hit and, yeah, it looked like it was gonna leave a nasty bruise. You’d be at a disadvantage if things went sour and a fight broke out. Ashe knew it too and thus shifted into a more protective stance between you and the stranger. You took a quick inventory of his features and body language. 

Mr. Nice Guy was still smiling, his right hand tucked into the fold of his robe. No visible weapons, but his baggy clothes made for plenty of hiding places. He seemed relaxed with your scrutinizing gaze and your brother’s silence. Everything about him was relaxed. He seemed content to wait here forever. 

But everyone’s got something to do so you hurried the conversation along.

“Did you need something?” 

He somehow lit up even more, brightening like he remembered he was here for a reason and didn’t just happen to pop into existence. “Right, yes! I was hoping to talk to Saber a little. Just from one fighter in the pit to another.” 

You glanced at your brother. He seemed to expect that much at least. His initial fear must have been rooted in the way the stranger had approached the ring. Immediately jumping in and going for you would be very alarming for Ashe, especially since this guy’s a fighter in the pit. Who knows what could have happened? 

“I’ll take my leave then,” you muttered, ducking your head as you walked past the stranger.

He didn’t try anything funny but instead asked, “How do you know him anyways? Saber.” 

The dilemma between telling the truth or lying didn’t even come to mind. Ryo had drilled it into your brain that you are to give half truths whenever possible. So flashing a pretty, mindless smile at the stranger, you said, “We went to school together. He’s teaching me some stuff about self defense.” 

You let fear seep into the shadows of your eyes as a defensive hand drifted to your injured wrist. In Ryo’s words, ‘if you’re a fox, play the hare.’ Be everything this warrior would expect from an innocent young girl he’d accidentally hurt. 

The stranger still hadn’t stopped smiling. He tilted his head to the side and beamed. “That’s nice of him. But still, in a fighting pit?” He looked back at Ashe. “Seems a bit irresponsible to bring her into the den of wolves.” 

Ashe shrugged.

Tearing his gaze away from your brother, the stranger extended a hand. “The name’s Dryden.”

Dryden. Of course. He was the Scourge.

You managed to smile through the rage that flared up.

Sett had planned today. Ashe had taken you to a new training room. He changed up the lesson plan. He’d been looking around the whole time. He was scared of him touching you. Thank the merciful Lamb you had enough practice by now to keep your anger in check. 

You shook Dryden’s hand and gave a name in return. Not your name, but it was a passable lie. The first and last names did belong to people you knew. 

“It’s nice to meet you,” the Scourge said. 

A polite nod from you and that was it. You wanted that to be it.

His eyes followed your every movement to the exit. Just as you were about to escape down the hall though, Dryden called out.

“Be careful out there, little rabbit. All sorts of beasts call this pit their home.”

A smile for when you glanced back. The Scourge gave a little bow.

“Some even have human faces.”

~

You started sprinting the moment you turned a corner away from the Scourge’s prying eyes. Sett had chosen the west wing for a reason. There was a convenient spying hole on the farside of the training room. No doubt the Boss intended for you to listen in to Dryden’s conversation and report back. As well as come to your own sort of conclusion on whether or not you’d fight this guy.

When you finally got to the spy hole, you were relieved to find neither of the men had moved in the meantime. They hadn’t seemed to have spoken or conversed or anything. Just two dudes, chilling in a training ring, six feet apart because it’s an uncomfortable situation. 

After maybe another solid minute of silence, Dryden finally speaks. 

“She seemed nice. Looked a bit like you, Saber. Pretty…”

Ashe crossed his arms in the way you knew meant ‘what do you want?’ Dryden, however, didn’t have as much practice reading your brother and let out a low whistle. 

“So you really can’t speak, huh? I heard the rumors, but scarcely believed them. The things fighters do for attention, y’know?” He shook his head dismissively. “So how is this going to work? Maybe I should have kept the little rabbit in here. At least then I would have had someone to make conversation with.” 

You could feel your blood boiling from the way he was treating your brother. Like he was something lesser. Like he was hardly even a person. 

Dryden spent a few moments humming in thought and then  _ boomf,  _ tapped his fist to an open palm. “I know. I’ll just make this nice and simple for you.”

The Scourge’s smile finally fell and his eyes opened to squint at Ashe. “Fight me, Saber.” 

Ashe shook his head.

The stranger cocked his head to the side, his long hair falling slightly forward. “Is it because you’re afraid? You hardly ever take any deathmatches. Is it that you don’t like killing? Don’t like getting your hands dirty?” A grin spread eerily wide, the whites of his eyes fully revealed now. “Don’t you know that you can’t live up there on a pedestal forever? Eventually you’ll come falling down, Saber. You won’t be the favorite anymore and there won’t be any reason for me to fight you.” 

There were no steps forward or back but Dryden staggered in place for a moment, throwing his hands down in a crazed plea. His voice was getting louder, his hair falling wildly with his jittery movements. The Ionian warrior was losing his composure. 

“But if you fight me now, I’ll make it worth your while. I can fight until yielding. Come on, I can take a step down for you, Saber. You know I play by the rules. You know I just love a good fight. I’ll let you go after you yield, I promise!” A crackling laugh barked through the room, cut short by his repeated assurance of “you know I play by the rules. I’ll let go, I’ll let go. You’re just such a convenient stepping stone right now…” 

Ashe shook his head again and again, raising his arms in an ‘x.’ He wouldn’t do it and that was final. 

Dryden finally seemed to get that, his hands falling limply to his sides. He stared and stared, those hateful, squinting eyes contemplating, perhaps thinking about what he could have said differently or maybe if he could get away with killing Ashe right now for his noncompliance. 

You watched the Scourge take a deep breath and then release it along with the tension in his shoulders, the shaking in his hands, and the general madness that seemed to have grasped him. He threw his head back, running a hand through the roots of his hair, pulling it back off his face. Then that smile was back and his eyes were mercifully closed once more. 

“That’s all fine then,” he said very honestly. “I’ll find someone else for now, Saber, but we will fight eventually. After all,” Dryden turned to walk away, throwing a wave over his shoulder at Ashe, “your sister is so very pretty and I love breaking pretty little liars.” 

Neither you nor your brother moved until a good few minutes had passed. Only once you were absolutely positive the Scourge was gone and wouldn’t be coming back did you mutter through the wall, “what a freak.” 

Ashe turned to your little spy hole and gave a brief smile. He gestured that he’d meet you in Sett’s office and told you to be extra careful in the halls. 

Yeah, you didn’t need reminders from two people now. 

You quickly made your way back to Sett’s office, slamming open the doors with a satisfying  _ THUD. _

Ryo jumped from where he sat on the couch before seeing it was you and sighing. He pointed to the back room, slumping back down in a defeated matter. You briefly wondered what was up with him before storming over to Sett’s bedroom door and giving it the same treatment.

It flew open quickly but stopped a moment before it could hit the wall. Sett towered in the doorway, his door caught in one hand and the other gripping the other side of the frame. His eyes flicked in acknowledgement and he said your name, “Reaper.” 

His shoulders relaxed and brows unwrinkled. He seemed to be shaking off a bad mood as he brushed past you to collapse upon the armchair next to Ryo’s couch. So both of them were frustrated over something. You followed the Boss over and stood before both of them, arms crossed. You really weren’t mad. Now you were just concerned about what had the guys looking so defeated.

But before you could voice these concerns, Sett waved a lazy hand at you.

“So what had you slamming my doors left and right?”

“I think you know very well what did,” you said, not even an ounce of poison lacing your words.

Ryo moved his hand from over his eyes long enough to squint over at you. “You don’t sound very angry right now.”

You admit you’re not. Calmly leaning against the armrest closest to Ryo, you turn your attention to Sett. “Sometimes I just feel like kicking open doors to inform my dear friends of the very odd encounter I just had with psychotic pit fighters.”

Neither man seemed very surprised. It was all the confirmation you needed to know today had been a set up. You weren’t upset about being left in the dark on this matter but you did want to know why.

Sett gave his answer once Ashe came back from the training room.

~

“Now that we’re all here, I only have to say this once.” In waiting for your brother to return, the Boss had tilted his head way back to rest with his eyes closed. He slouched more than usual and even the mane of his coat looked to be ruffled. “As you found out today, Reaper, the Scourge is a few sandwiches short of a picnic. I pulled a few strings here and there to ensure you met him--”

“You had Ashe completely change our training routine and location.”

Sett’s eyes opened to slide sideways at you, the tiniest hint of amusement sparking in them. “-- but it got you there. You now have an idea of what you’d be up against if you were to take on Dryden. He isn’t a morally gray character. He likes hurting people. He tortures his opponents to death and acts innocent to it after battle.”

Obviously your face wasn’t exactly the epitome of calm at hearing that. You grimaced because you could definitely imagine how Dryden did exactly that. He flipped his personality with the flick of a switch. He’d been a sunny, smiling samurai for you and then turned around to threaten Ashe with your breaking. 

“As you’re probably already thinking now,” Sett drawled, “there won’t be any guilt in defeating this guy. You won’t have to worry about feeling sick afterwards.” 

Well that was good to hear. It’d be a nice change from your first opponent --

It took a moment to process the implications of what Sett said but the moment you did, you snapped to attention, jerking back on the armrest in shock. Ryo still had a hand over his eyes and Ashe was staring off somewhere so the only person who watched was Sett. You ran through what it all meant and fought back the tide of emotion that came with it.

Ryo had betrayed your trust. He’d told Sett what you'd said the day after your fight. You’d opened up, put yourself in a vulnerable position and Ryo had ran straight to Sett with it. You were more weak than you cared to admit. And now Sett knew too. Sett, the bastard who was always at your throat, always challenging you. That fight was something that’d haunted you. It was something that’d actually made you pause to think. Ryo’s  _ words  _ had made you want to think. 

All of that and for  _ nothing.  _

Rage began clawing its way to the surface and your eyes burned, glaring into Sett’s. He met your fire with icy calm. 

No. Nonononono.

Think. Think like you’d been doing all this time. 

Something had been off from the beginning. Sett had known from the beginning. Sett was smart, a whole lot smarter than people gave him credit for. He was giving you a chance to control yourself. Think.

Ryo hadn't betrayed you. Sett had already known. He was there the very same night you’d carved up that Shruiman boy, offering you his room to clean up and rest. He’d offered teasing comments to take your mind off of it. Changed your guilt to anger and redirected your emotions at him just like he was doing now.

Cocky bastard. 

You closed your eyes, silencing the roar in your ears and washing away the taste of smoke in your mouth. Slowly, limb by limb, you relaxed back onto the armrest. Blood stopped sizzling. Your heartbeat calmed.

Everything was fine. Sett’s smirk was the first thing you saw when you opened your eyes again. He tilted his head to the side as if to say ‘good job.’ Too bad it took on the Boss’s arrogant nature and you flipped him off for it.

The sudden rage had come and gone in maybe a matter of seconds. Sett made a lewd gesture right back at you before continuing to talk for the benefit of Ashe and Ryo who were indeed still present, just not paying attention.

“Anyways, the decision is still ultimately up to you, Reaper. Sure it would benefit you in tons of ways like giving you more experience in the pit, getting rid of some competition cramping on your style, lending some weight to your name, and allowing you to fight without being weighed down by a guilty conscious, but who am I to tell you what you should and shouldn’t do?” The Boss waved a dismissive hand. “The choice is yours.” 

Well Ryo was too tired to give a shit but you and Ashe shared a glance before speaking at once. Ashe motioned that Sett had a point and you should fight Dryden, but you spoke over him, announcing to everyone, “Y’know, I wasn’t mad when I first walked in here.”

… 

A moment passed and no one said anything.

You shrugged. “But now I am. I’ll take your stupid idea, Sett, along with the rest of this wretched hive of angst and peasantry. But you owe me for wasting my time with long winded rants on how smart you are while pretending to be dumb and nice and anything besides what you really are: an asshole.”

“Want me to buy you dinner, sweetheart?” Sett offered, chin propped up on a fist and watching you walk to the door. 

You stuck your tongue out and pulled down your lower eyelid. “I’m not gonna eat it with you.” 

He flashed you a grin, nodding to your mouth and saying, “save that for later, I have some ideas for it.” 

And before you could raise your hand to flip the pit boss off, Ryo spoke up for the first time since the beginning of the conversation. 

“Would you two please just fuck already and be done with it?” 

Ashe scolded Ryo from where he lay against him on the couch and you quickly left before Sett could get another word out of his mouth, something that probably would have been akin to “yes, let’s.” 

Too bad for you, your retreat from the room looked more like an embarrassed school girl running from her feelings than an angry pit fighter leaving before her boss could harass her further.

Because that’s what it was, right? 

(Yes. The answer is yes.)

~ 

“So are we just going to let Reaper wander around with that bruise on her wrist?”

“Are you gonna be the one to tell her to cover up?” 

“Nope. I’ll pass. Seems like you might enjoy the challenge though.”

“I’ll wait it out. If it heals, it heals. If it doesn’t, things could get interesting ‘round here.” 

“I don’t think I need any more ‘interesting’ things on my plate right now. King’s already proven himself enough of a handful.”

“Fuck. I don’t want to even hear that name right now.” 

“Finally met an opponent you’re worried you can’t beat?”

“Hell no. I ain’t never lost and I’m not about to give up that distinction just yet.” 

“Uh huh. So, remind me, why does it feel like he’s handing us our asses every time we try to rope him off?” 

“You can win every battle and still lose the war.”

“Another one of those phrases ‘a wise master once said’?” 

“Nah, this time I made it up.” 

“And here I was thinking you were some dumb oaf.”

. . .

“She’s really gonna do it, huh. Take on the Scourge?”

“Still on that? He’s not gonna take her down. I don’t think anything short of Kindred dragging her into the afterlife will.”

“But if she isn’t alright, what will you do? Are you going to help the girl you pulled into this mess?” 

“Does she seem like the type that needs helping?”   


“In some ways, yeah.” 

“I don’t need to promise or tell you anything so quit your staring. I always do what’s right with me, for me. It’ll only be between me and her.”

“Whatever, man. That’s the best I can ever get out of you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally here. This thing literally took forever to get right. Apologies for the long wait, y'all. This work is not ending anytime soon, I still have lots of ideas for it. Unfortunately, this transition chapter just got me completely fucked. 
> 
> In summary, I'm still working on this. Some other projects snagged my attention for a bit but it should be all cleared up now. Lemme know if anyone's still here reading this though. Roll call, or something. Helps to motivate me. Next chapter should be more gooder.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's here. Reaper vs Scourge.

Three days ago the Reaper placed his mark upon the board in challenge to Dryden. Three days ago the Scourge accepted the challenge and proposed his terms for the battle. You’d promptly accepted and the fight was set. Everything was decided without the Reaper and Scourge ever coming face to face. 

Three hours ago the Reaper had entered the pit and walked through its halls. People whispered as he passed and placed bets behind his back. None of it mattered to him. 

You wouldn’t see any of your friends until after the battle tonight. They didn’t know of the surprises you had planned or the changes you’d made to Reaper’s character. Sett had helped build your body for this fight. Ryo had trained your mind’s eye to see actions and reactions. Ashe had prepared some strategies to use against the Scourge. But you were the one that got the final say. And having come up with a plan that used the boys’ lessons to the fullest, you were pretty proud of yourself. 

That boost of confidence was all that kept you company in your prep room as you waited for the night’s festivities to start. Dramatic timing and nuanced themes were important to making a mysterious persona, but gods above, you were bored. 

Three days for the mark to be on the board, three hours for the Reaper to wait in the pit, three minutes before he were to appear again, ready for his fight. Huzzah, the rule of threes! What a whacky, fun motif for the Reaper to have! Three is such a mysterious numberrrrr. 

You were bored out of your mind.

Two hours had already passed, thankfully, but you still had 57 minutes, 23 seconds left to go before your entrance. What the hell was there to do until then? 

Reaper was a mysterious figure. He slipped in and out of the pit like a wraith drifting across the mortal plane. His eyes were cold and impassive behind his glinting metal mask. He could not be caught reading a book or playing a finger trap game. So you’d mostly been sitting against a wall pretending to meditate or sleep or think or whatever. 

Time passed as it tends to do and you were down to half an hour left to go. Finally, things started to get interesting again as a low whistle pierced the silence of the room.

“Reaper, Reaper, come out to play-e-ay.”

A soft, taunting voice that you recognized but the Reaper would have no reason to. 

The Scourge popped his head around the corner from where you were sitting, his ever present smile eerie in the low light.

“There you are.”

Dryden took a seat next to you without any invitation and began talking.

“Seems we both have fearsome aliases, eh Reaper? Honestly, I think you might have the better of the two. Mine’s a bit more on the nose than I would have liked. You’ve got this whole mysterious flare thing going on.”

At least your suffering wasn’t going to waste, but you still refused the response that Dryden was obviously waiting for. 

He continued on, unphased.

“I wonder what made you challenge me in the first place. I wonder who you are under that mask. But what I probably wonder most of all…” 

There was a shift in the air as Dryden pulled a weapon. Your hand was already flashing out to defend yourself but he was too close to allow a proper maneuver. For one terrible second, you thought this was really going to be the moment to make or break the Reaper. But no, despite the malice and bloodlust in the air, no blood spilled. 

Dryden’s blade, Life Ender, was stabbed into the space between your shoulder and his. He’d twisted to get into this position, bearing down on you with crazed, wide eyes. Your gloved hand hovered in open air now, blocking from a threat that was never really there. 

The Scourge leaned even closer to you, the grip on his knife turning his knuckles white. 

“Does carving flesh give you a hard on like it does me?”

_ Holy fucking shit on a pike. _

The words certainly caught you off guard. Ryo’s training did nothing to help you in this situation. It was one blow after another. You didn’t have time to prepare for Dryden’s insane question because you were still reeling from when you thought he was going to fucking stab you. The saying that people are more honest when they’re closer to death probably applied here. 

You backed off quite a bit, mastering your face once again to merely watch the Scourge with narrowed eyes. Certainly you were holding a more defensive position, but that could be attributed to the fact that Dryden had almost attacked you and not to the real cause of his statement simply freaking you the fuck out. 

For what it was worth, Dryden also sat back, his eyes closing once again and a frown tugging at his lips. “I thought that would elicit at least some sort of noise… But I guess you’re silent too.” His smile sprung back into place a moment later as if it was the only expression his face was tailored for.

“Oh well. You never know these days, Reaper. The things fighters will do for attention, right? I know I’m guilty of it too.” The Scourge stood with a firm pat on his thighs before yanking the Life Ender out of the wall. “I’ll see you in the pit, yes?”

The Reaper didn’t respond, only watched the fighter wipe his blade clean. 

Dryden shrugged, that cheery smile still plastered on his face. “Don’t disappoint me, Reap. I look forward to seeing if silent men can scream.” 

And then he was gone.

You sighed. You always got stuck with the creeps. 

~

Three minutes left to go until her fight and Reaper did indeed step into the arena. Ryo cheered at having guessed correctly down to the very second. It was impressive for sure, but Ashe could have planned out the night’s proceedings the moment she insisted on placing her mark three days before the night she’d wanted to fight on. She was warned against it, saying there was no way the Scourge would see it in time. But of course no one could get through her thick skull to convince her of this and Dryden accepted the challenge. Fate had always dealt his sister odd hands and she somehow made the best of them. 

Now the Scourge stepped into the spotlight and he was greeted with cheers and boos alike. Sett’s bet was paying off too. There were tons of people in attendance for this fight in particular. People either loved or hated Dryden and so people were here to either see him win or fail. None of the boys had wagered there’d be any Reaper fans in the stands tonight. He was still too new a presence in the pit and he’d been silent for a while. He was probably only getting this much attention because he was taking on a rising star. 

But Ashe knew this was how his sister preferred it. She would shoot to the top in no time and she’d be stomping out a bad guy along the way.

Still, there was no such thing as a high reward with low risks. Ashe heaved a sigh and slumped in his seat.

“What’s up?” Ryo asked. “Worried for your sister?”

A nod was his only response.

“Aw, c’mon. We all trained her well. There’s nothing to worry about.”

The dark man tried again and again to revive Ashe, but the mute remained stubbornly quiet.

It’s not that he wasn’t worried she couldn’t do it -- Ashe knew his sister best and there was no way in hell she’d lose -- he was worried what would have happened to her if she had never made such incredible connections within the pit.

If he hadn’t been here to teach her how to move, would Reaper have made it past his first fight? If Sett hadn’t trusted her, hadn’t taken her under his wing and trained her body to the point where she could hold her own, would she have been alive today? If Ryo hadn’t made her stop to think, how far gone would Ashe’s sister be? 

It was ridiculous of him to be thinking of scenarios that thankfully never came to pass, but Ashe couldn’t help it. He worried for his sister’s blind ambition and hunger for strength. He was terrified of her wanton, self destructive nature and the fact that everyone seemed to be supporting it, himself included. 

Ashe loved that he got to spend more time with Sett and Ryo now because of his sister, but he also worried they were all leading her down a bad road. But she also liked it. So what kind of big brother would he be to try and deny her of it? 

No, their father had taken enough from them already. Ashe wouldn’t be the one to try and control his sister now. He would simply follow behind and protect her from what might stab her in the back later. Like tonight’s fight.

“Leave him alone, Ryo. Saber knows the Reaper’s prepared for this fight. He’s just worrying because that’s what family does.” 

The Boss’s voice cut through Ashe’s thoughts as well as any authoritative male’s voice cuts to the core of someone with daddy issues. 

“I don’t bother you when you’re flirting, Sett, so excuse me if I ask you don’t spout wise pieces of nonsense when I’m trying to cheer up my own romantic interest.”

Sett snorted, rolling his eyes. “That’s a load of bullshit and you know it. You’re constantly making things harder for me.”

“I’m not ruining your chances anymore than you’re already doing yourself.”

The more the two men argued around him, the lower Ashe sank into his seat. How did this even happen? How did his family get mixed up with some of the most powerful figures in Ionia’s underground? What kind of bad luck had the gods cursed him with? His face burned from embarrassment. Sometimes Ashe felt like the only adult in his friend group. And he was the second youngest person. The only person younger than him was his eighteen year old sister who could hardly be counted as a functioning human being, let alone an adult. 

Kindred almighty, what had the world come to? 

Before things could get much worse between the Boss and his right hand man, though, the pit officiator called for the match to start and oh gods, Ashe hadn’t been paying attention at all to the Reaper and Scourge facing each other, shaking hands, maybe exchanging words...

All three men settled in their seats and leaned forward to watch the proceedings with great focus. 

Reaper was on the move. Trying to get to the wall of weapons on the far side of the arena, trying to block the Scourge’s path to them. It was the first move Ashe had insisted his sister make.

Dryden preferred the pit’s Free for All rules over all else. As the name suggested, there were practically no limitations on the fight. The whole arena opened up as a battleground and a variety of weapons were provided for the fighters to pick and choose from as they saw fit throughout the fight. The officiator had no power over the battle. The only person who could interfere now was the Boss and he wasn’t known to be particularly merciful. 

It was so different from the way Ashe preferred to fight. 

Saber was a duelist and swordsman above all else. He liked having strict rules and boundaries. There was honor in a fight until yielding. There was pride in making an opponent admit defeat without having to threaten their life. He could never understand the appeal of this chaos Dryden preferred. 

But evidently his sister could. 

She’d made it to the weapons first and was slashing at the Scourge with her reaping sickle. She was keeping him well away from the weapons that could win him an advantage over her. All Dryden had on him right now was his dagger, Life Ender. It was honed to a deadly point and sharpened as all hell, but there was no length to it. (That was not a euphemism, please, he didn’t mean it that way.)

It had come up during a brainstorming session last week. Ashe, Reap, and Ryo were reviewing all they knew about the Scourge and his battle tactics. No two fights of his were ever the same, meaning he was a pain in the ass to try and plan around. So instead of training his sister with a solid profile of her opponent in mind, Ryo and Ashe agreed to just teach her how best to think on her feet and react. But another thing they agreed needed to happen was to cover Reaper’s weaknesses.

Sett had been the one to bring it up first, actually. He was as subtle about it as ever, saying Reaper had a glaring flaw that the Scourge could and would easily exploit: Reaper was at her worst against opponents with more range than her. 

“Which is practically everyone,” he’d said. 

Rude commentary aside, the Boss was right. Reaper was shorter than most pit fighters and he didn’t quite have the reach others did. He’d lucked out in his debut battle, going up against a young boy roughly the same size as him. But the Scourge towered over the Reaper by a good half foot. His longer limbs compensated for his lack of longer weapon at the moment. 

Ashe could see it now as the two exchanged attacks. Dryden was matching Reaper blow for blow. She had to change the paradigm quickly or risk being overwhelmed.

With a nervous knot forming in his stomach, Ashe watched as his sister was forced to switch to defense. No longer was she on the attack, preventing the Scourge from moving forward. His erratic swings were driving her back step by step, closer to the wall of weapons that glinted in the arena’s light. 

She needed to move. Cut her losses and back off for a moment. If she retreated fast enough, he could overextend and provide an opening to strike. 

But who was Ashe kidding? His sister would never back off. No, instead she threw herself at her problems until she broke through. It was the definition of insanity and she knew this. 

Why did Reaper have to pick up her bad habits too? 

~

She knew what she wanted. 

Sett smirked as he watched the Scourge smack Reaper around. She gave up too much ground with each clash of blades, stumbling as if she was something weak. It would appear as though Reaper was completely outmatched. He had taken a bigger bite than he could chew and now he would die for it. Such was the way of the pit. There was no need for the Boss to interfere. 

Ashe sat with his arms crossed, gaze fixed on his sister far below. He couldn’t see it. Worry clouded his vision and judgement. It was only natural for an older brother. He was supposed to be taking care of his family and yet here was his blood relative literally asking for one dangerous situation after another. How frustrating. 

If it were anyone else in the sand right now, Saber would have been able to spot it. The Scourge was falling into a trap set into motion four move sets ago. 

Reaper was playing a risky game, but it was the only one she could play. She couldn’t let Dryden have the weapons now. The tide of battle would change significantly and the scales would tip in his favor. She would be out of position to receive him safely. Metal would meet flesh and she would likely die.

So that couldn’t happen.

Another fierce strike from Life Ender had the girl of hellfire staggering to the left. The Scourge towered over her hunched form, lifting his arms to bring his dagger down atop her. 

There were very few things Dryden stayed consistent with. He was skilled with any weapon the pit put out and there never seemed to be a pattern with which he selected. Planning around that had been a pain in everyone’s ass, Sett knew, so he offered up some observations he’d made during the Scourge’s fights. 

The overhead maneuver he was trying to do now was unnecessary. Unnecessary, exposing, and obvious. A sweeping low kick would have been best with how the Reaper and Scourge were positioned right now. Knock her over and the wall of weapons she guarded would be easy pickings. But that was the Scourge’s flaw. His lust for blood blinded him to the simple things in battle. Like there, another opening where Reaper’s side was exposed. A liver shot would have downed her in a second. Instead Dryden bided his time for an opening to cut, slash, stab. 

That was where the Scourge became slightly predictable. You could rely on him to try to swing his blade rather than throw a punch. 

And sure Sett had told Reaper about this chink in Dryden’s armor last night and let her integrate that into whatever plan she had and wasn’t telling anyone, but it didn’t excuse her awful defense. The more he saw of it, the more convinced the Boss was he should run a refresher course for her. Because the Scourge wasn’t stupid. He might notice all those openings she was leaving and finally decide to take one. And then where would Reaper be? Flat on her back with the Scourge atop her and Kindred lurking nearby. 

Luckily, that wasn’t going to be the case this time. Shoving the Scourge off with her ‘remaining strength,’ Reaper took the last step backward to be within reach of her goal. Dryden had no time to notice the halberd aiming straight for his gut but the audience certainly did. A roar went up as Reaper shoved the lance forward and blood sprayed. 

Sett glanced to his right were Ryo and Ashe sat. Saber had closed his eyes to the battle and was letting out a deep breath he’d probably been holding the entire time. Ryo was murmuring something for only Ashe to hear so the Boss didn’t bother listening in. He turned his attention back to the fight below.

Dryden had backed off, shaken by how close that thrust had come to ending his life. He tore open the rest of his robe and let its bloody rags hang loosely against his thighs. He was bare chested now, the gash from Reaper’s surprise attack on full display. It oozed blood lazily. Maybe not a problem at the moment, but the Scourge would now have to wrap things up quickly or risk passing out in the middle of the fight. 

The pressure was on Dryden.  _ He _ was on a time crunch,  _ he  _ had a reputation at stake,  _ he _ couldn’t afford to lose. There was no reason for the Reaper to charge forward. He had the metaphorical high ground in this scenario. He had the longer reach now and was guarding the weapons. What could go wrong? 

Right, exactly. This was a free for all and there was one thing they may have forgotten to warn Reaper about…

“Dryden, here!” 

Ooh, the Reaper was gonna have all their asses for this one. A knife dropped through the air in front of her and the Scourge caught it deftly.

Sett visibly cringed along with Ryo. Ashe quietly freaked out, likely wondering what the heck were with these rules (or rather lack thereof). Dryden sent that knife hurtling through the air as the crowd cheered.

~

_ Fuck. _

You barely managed to jerk your head back in time, the metal of your mask screeching as it took the brunt of the blade’s impact. This time you were knocked back for real. You were off balance, powerless to stop the Scourge as he darted past you. 

Cheers and laughter filled your ears. So damn close to the stands. Couldn’t hear the Scourge and your eyes were still blinking, still flinching. Fuck, shit, fuck, you were blind.

A strong hand shoved you back, slamming you against the wall. It was time to cut your losses. You threw yourself to the side, rolling with your momentum. You still had the halberd. Halberd in your left hand and sickle in your right.

Blink, breath, piece yourself together. 

Dryden was picking up a whip. You were already moving. He snapped it once, twice, then went for you. 

Your arms ripped free of the Reaper’s cloak just in time. The whip snagged the fabric as you threw it forward, stealing all the power it had. And in the cover of the still billowing mass, you darted low, scooping up both weapons you’d dropped and charging the Scourge.

Sand sifted beneath your shoes, between your fingers. He was throwing down the whip and widened his stance to receive you, Life Ender in hand. 

Dryden was still within arms reach of that wall of weapons. Axe, scimitar, mace. Those were the closest ones to him. Two out of three too heavy to be wielded effectively in close quarters and the scimitar… Just a bigger knife. Easy to bat out of his hand. 

You got within your halberd’s reach and feinted a thrust forward. Dryden dodged and you yanked the lance left to follow him. But it didn’t matter if it hit or not. You just needed him to move. 

Dropping the halberd unceremoniously, you jumped up, kicked off the wall, and rammed your head straight into Dryden’s open wound. 

Both of you sprawled to the ground. Blood seeped into your hair and trickled down your mask as you rose to your knees. Pretty icky, but it was all for the theater. 

Reaper lifted his head in time to catch the Scourge’s eye. The fighter was clutching his side, but he didn’t seem to be feeling the pain. His hand came away slick with blood and he continued to hold your gaze as he brought his fingers to his lips and licked them clean. 

Gods, you wanted to pour boiling water in your eyes. But you kept your gaze level because that’s what the Reaper would do. Dryden’s mouth twitched up in a smile and then the battle was on again. Fuck, you hated creepos. 

It was tumbling time in the sand and thank fucking god you’d learned a bit of grappling and wrestling from Ryo. You twisted and slithered to the best of your abilities, refusing the Scourge a good grip. Down here it was all about control. Who could control the other’s body the most? Reaper was at a disadvantage. He was small and light. Very easy to pin him. So you couldn’t let that happen.

You lashed out blindly when you felt a hand at your neck. Bad bad bad. Dryden had his hips behind you, one hand scrabbling for your neck. What was it Ryo said? Get his head and a leg in a lock and roll. He’d drop immediately.

But easier said than done down here. Your hair was getting dislodged, getting in your mouth, in your eyes. The hood of your cloak usually did a good job of keeping it back but now that was gone. You were pretty much half naked -- only bandages covered your chest and arms -- and rolling around in the sand. Fuck.

Slightly more upsetting fuck, however, was that Dryden now had a firm grip on the back of your neck and your right wrist pinned. He shoved your face into the sand, a knee coming up to press firmly into your lower back. Reaper didn’t scream. He didn’t make a sound. But you were gritting your teeth against the pain. Sett really had been going easy on you all this time.

Dryden caught his breath while you were still panting and wheezing beneath him. 

“You put up a good fight,” he said. You could hear the smile in his voice. 

“I enjoyed playing with you, Reaper.”

His weight shifted on top of you. Keeping the pressure on your back, but leaning a little to the right. So your face wasn’t pressed so hard into the ground. You spat sand and tested the waters with a little twitch of your leg.

No response from the Scourge. Blood stained the sand around you. He had lost a lot of it by now. Probably couldn’t think or feel much. That gave you a chance. 

Dryden whispered to himself, still trying to pin you in a way that would allow him to pull Life Ender and start carving flesh. You got your feet positioned so your toes had friction against the sand. Your left hand was squished beneath your body.With subtle wriggles, you began moving it up and out. Bandages looked pretty cool and fit a certain aesthetic, but they weren’t practical for battle. They kept getting caught on each other, the little shits.

“Are you still going to fight? You can if you want. Makes it all the more fun for me.” 

Still talking. Dryden leaned forward next to your ear, his knee digging into your back with enough weight to nearly make you scream. Only biting your tongue prevented the noise from coming out.

“What’s with these bandages, Reaper? What’s with the mask? They should all come off, I think. Let the world see who, or what, you truly are.” 

His grip shifted on your arm, pulling down the bandages there slightly. You didn’t care though. You couldn’t think about that. Dryden had given you an opportunity. His balance was off, just a bit. He was leaning forward and yeah it fucking hurt, but it freed up your legs. Your left arm was out from under you. All you had to do was--

~

Flip him over. 

Ryo couldn’t see exactly what had made the Scourge let his guard down at that moment, but Reaper was capitalizing on it. Her left hand found Dryden’s face and as he was knocked off her, she performed some impressive sweeping scissor kick and got on top of him not a moment later. She straddled his hips, kneeling on his hands, and pressed her forearm to his throat. 

She was still vulnerable to a kick from behind but it seemed the Scourge was too shocked by the turn of events to think straight. That or the fingers she was digging into his side were, uh, doing their job of distracting him. 

Blood now soaking his gloves, the Reaper drew his scythe. Dryden stared past the curved blade and into the unfeeling mask of his opponent. Whatever he saw there didn’t seem to scare him. In fact… 

Ryo looked to the Boss whose eyes were fixed on the fight below. 

“Sett, is he…?”

“Yep.” Sett gave a single huff of unamused laughter. “The bastard’s smiling.” 

Ashe snapped to attention next to Ryo the same time as Sett did once again. The dark man quickly looked to the pit below but nothing seemed to have changed. 

“What--”

“Shut up. Listen.”

And there, just barely audible from this distance, a rasping male’s voice. The crowd was still trapped in stunned silence from the turn of events so they heard it too. 

The Reaper.

He was talking.

What preceded it hardly mattered. His defining line was delivered just before he carved the Scourge’s face.

“You reap what you sow.”

Blood spilled and the audience shrieked. Dryden smiled all the way through his branding, only ceasing when Reaper cracked the hilt of his sickle against the Scourge’s temple.

The pit officiator hurried over to check the Scourge’s vitals and announced it to be a knockout. The loser was carted away to have his wounds dressed and Reaper stood in victory. He scanned the cheering crowd with indifference and paused only at the Boss’s balcony. 

Ryo glanced at Sett.

The half-vastaya didn’t stand this time. He didn’t nod or smirk or anything. Sett merely held the Reaper’s gaze until he had to turn to exit the arena. Ryo knew the comments that would stir at this exchange. 

Was the Boss unimpressed by the battle this time around? Why had he seemed so interested initially? Why did the Reaper not bow to him? Why did the Boss allow that?

Ryo heaved a sigh. Why did his boss have to have fifty different things going on at once? The dark man was now certain those two were plotting something between the Reaper and the Boss. Something that he was being left out of. Or there wasn’t an official plan in motion and Sett was simply playing along with whatever the girl was doing. Nothing was out of the picture where those two were concerned.    


It was possible everything between them was a front and this staring contest was a form of silent communication in which they scheduled a time and place to meet up and bang. Ryo snorted at the thought. She would surely murder him for even suggesting the idea. Ah, young love.

A nudge on the shoulder was enough to drag Ryo from his stupid thoughts. Ashe was staring at him intently. He pointed at Ryo’s mouth and asked what he was grinning about.

“Nothing much.” Ryo draped an arm around the smaller man. “Just thinking clever thoughts.” 

Ashe poked at the dark man’s chest and Sett muttered something rude under his breath. All of it was meaningless time to fill before the Reaper joined them in the Boss’s balcony. Then the  _ really  _ fun banter could begin. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Scourge vs Reaper. Because people don’t give fights enough credit for their ability to fuck someone up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (insert exclamation) these keep getting longer.

After cleaning yourself up best you could and dressing your wounds (just a few cuts and bruises), you headed out into the halls of the pit. The boys were waiting upstairs on the Boss’s balcony. You’d like to pretend you were calm, cool, and collected right now, but adrenaline and dopamine still pumped through your veins. That was so fucking crazy. You felt so fucking crazy.

No one paid much attention to you in the halls of the pit. You were back in civilian clothes and everyone was too busy talking about the Reaper’s fight. Some had enjoyed it and some hadn’t. Some called Reaper a cheat, some called him a breath of fresh air. You really couldn’t care less. You just had to get to your seat before the next fight started.

But how could Reaper have cheated in a free for all? The rules were pretty much nonexistent anyways. Besides, it’d felt like Reaper had been the one losing the entire time. That knife throw had thrown you for a loop. So what the heck? You had half a mind to start asking around what made people think Reaper was a cheat (because you were genuinely curious) but then realized you didn’t care.

Your face deadpanned and you walked past the stands without any more intruding thoughts. The boys were waiting for you. You wanted time to chat. Better hurry.

Things grew a bit quieter as you snuck into the hall that led to the Boss’s balcony. It was kept dark at all times, the only source of illumination coming from up ahead where the arena lay. Honestly you had no idea why Sett kept it this way. It reminded you of that one idiom or phrase or whatever. About the light at the end of the tunnel. But that was nothing to dwell on because you could hear the boys now, arguing about some thing or another. You felt your pace quicken but forced yourself to keep composure. 

Finally you walked out of the tunnel and got to make a cool entrance with your hands in your pockets and the nonchalant question of “What insults did you hurl at each other while I was gone?”

All attention zeroed in on you. Ashe came over to briefly squeeze your hand before moving out of the way for Ryo to be obnoxious. 

“The Reaper returns unscathed!” he crowed, clapping you on the back. “I honestly have no idea how you got out of that pin down there. And all those surprises from Reaper tonight! First he stripped and then he spoke!” The dark man tilted back dramatically while still clinging to your arm. “What a man!”

You shoved him off with a grin. “You’re so dumb.”

“Probably,” Ryo nodded, “but Reaper’s so scandalous! He doesn’t wear anything under his cloak!” 

“Except bandages,” you reminded him.

“Oh yeah, right. But if you just use your imagination…”

Ashe smacked Ryo for you, shoving his head down so no one would have to look at him for a while. You nodded your thanks to your brother and finally acknowledged the huge half vastaya in the room. 

“Gonna make any comments on that, Sett?”

The Boss’s eyebrows rose a fraction, the most surprise he ever really showed.

“Me? Make a comment about you fighting topless?”

_ Yeah, that’s pretty much what everyone’s expecting-- _

“Or about how you pinned the Scourge with your legs around his hips, chest pressed to his, completely giving away the fact that the Reaper isn’t male but in fact a rather attractive woman?”

Sett smirked as your face fell.

“I would never.” 

_ Shit.  _

You thought he was just going to make a horny comment. But no, those were super valid points. Reaper was flat in the places he shouldn’t be flat and -- Bumpy? Curvy? -- had the slight raise of breasts where there shouldn’t be any. 

Ashe was realizing it too, his eyes snapping over to you to gauge your reaction. It wasn’t good. 

Your face cycled through maybe four to five emotions at once, including (but not limited to): shock, rage, fear, concern, and embarrassment. Eyes widened, teeth clenched, shoulders tensed, eyebrows furrowed -- all the good stuff. 

Dryden had to be taken care of. If Reaper’s cover was blown, things could get real complicated, real fast. He was still probably getting healed up right now, right? There shouldn’t be a problem with Reaper slipping in to have a chat with his opponent. You could just slip in and…

A tug on your hair brought you out of those dark thoughts, however, as well as Sett’s voice saying,

“Relax, Reap, it was a joke.” 

You glared. “But you have a point. If Dryden did notice…” 

“We’ll keep it under control,” the Boss finished. “No one will let him hurt you.” 

Pulling away from him, you began to storm off back into the hall. “You can’t just promise that. Reaper might be compromised. I’ve got to--”

_ “I  _ won’t let him hurt you, sweetheart.” 

You didn’t mean to. It was instinct, the reason you turned back to look at him. 

Sett was just standing there, arms crossed and looking as casual as ever. A strand of hair fell between his golden eyes as his head tilted down with the beginnings of a smirk. His stupid, sharp canine glinted even in this low light but fuck, why were you looking at that?

Irritated. That irritated you. You scowled at Sett and quickly looked away. 

He was right. There was no point in seeing the Scourge now. He probably hadn’t noticed during the fight and it’d just make you look suspicious to go poking around now. They were small details and he’d been pretty preoccupied with the pain of your fingers digging into his open wound. Still, you didn’t approve of Sett’s stupid joke. He’d nearly given you and your brother a heart attack. (And maybe Ryo too, but he didn’t count since he was still in time-out for being stupid.)

Finally having cleared your head and calmed down to a level where you didn’t want to throttle Sett, you turned back to the Boss and gave him a thumbs down. 

“You’re an ass,” you told him.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “But I did have a few questions about your surprises tonight.” 

“If any of them are about my bindings, so help me Kindred…”

Sett waved away your threat. “I wasn’t going to bring it up again. What you do with your body is your own business.” But then, as if he couldn’t help himself, “Though I am glad to see your chest’s back--”

You bared your teeth and threw an ‘up yours’ gesture at him. 

Sett grinned but continued on as if nothing happened. “I was more interested in your second surprise of the night.” 

Ashe looked to you too, also interested. Even Ryo shuffled a little, tapping your brother’s side to be allowed up. The hand was removed from his head and Ryo immediately popped up with the comment, “Yeah, that was a seriously good male voice. I want to say something dumb about it, but I think time-out’s gonna be a little bit worse this time around…” And yes, Ryo was flinching under the hand Ashe had brought to the back of his neck again. “So uh…”

He smiled innocently, “Just how did you manage to sound so fucking hot, Reaper?”

Occasionally there comes a time when even two rival forces must come to a stand still. This is usually due to the appearance of a greater threat. Or in this specific case, a greater annoyance. 

There was a moment of complete neutrality between you and Sett as you guys watched Ryo be dragged away to stand in a corner. It felt like you were united under the simple agreement that Ryo shouldn’t talk for the rest of the night.

Your brother returned from the corner without Ryo and motioned you forward with the explanation. 

“I just had a little enchantment put on the mask. Wanted it to sound raspy and low for a potential backstory later.”

“You and your backstories,” Ashe grinned. 

(It’s worth mentioning your brother had been the only one around when you were brainstorming ideas for the Reaper and thus had been the only one to listen to your hour long presentation on what could have possibly happened to the Reaper to drive him to wear a mask, cover his skin, fight in the pit, etc.)

Sett arched an eyebrow at that but didn’t press. He’d save that for later. Instead, he simply asked, “Do you have the mask on you?”

You dug it out of your bag and tossed him the piece of metal.

The Boss turned it over in his hands. There was really no difference with the way that witch had worked her magic, but he did notice…

“What’s this?”

A question mark shape curved around the right eye hole of the Reaper’s mask. You had carved it yourself in the privacy of your makeshift home before your fight against Dryden. A sort of tribute to that first Shuriman boy and a promise to yourself not to do something like that again. You wouldn’t hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it. Never again.

But you just told Ashe and Sett, “I thought it would look cool.” 

Nobody believed you but they were willing to let it slide for now. The next fight would begin soon anyways. Ashe walked away to allow Ryo back to his seat and you realized now that there… There wasn’t a chair for you. 

You glared at Sett. He was already back in front of his stupid throne and raised his eyebrows when he saw your ferocious stare.

“What?”

Playing dumb. Of course.

“The Boss of the pit has all this space in his big ass balcony and he only asks for two chairs tonight?” You point a finger at him. “I don’t believe that you didn’t plan this!” 

Sett says that if he’d asked for three chairs and only two people showed up to sit with him, some eyebrows would be raised. There would be eyes on him all night. “And you wouldn’t want that,” he purred with a smile. “But if you really insist, I can make room…” 

He sat with his legs spread apart. There would be enough space for you but… 

“Do you really expect me to sit in your lap?”   


A smirk spread on Sett’s face as he propped his chin up on a hand. “You’ve practically done it before, sweetheart. Remember our first sparring match?”

“Ugh.” You rolled your eyes at the reminder and decided you would kick Ryo out of his chair. He didn’t deserve it tonight anyways. “I wish you would just shut up sometimes.”

“That’s hardly any fun.” 

Another ‘up yours’ gesture and Sett grinned again. Everyone had settled in for the fight (Ryo sat on Ashe’s lap despite the smaller man’s resistance) and things fell into place. It felt good. It felt normal. You could finally let loose that energy and excitement still pumping through you from your fight. 

Honestly, you passed the fuck out the moment you were able to. Last thing you remembered a guy with a topknot was fighting scissor-hands McGee and then Ryo was shaking you and the pit was emptying. 

You rubbed your eyes clear, asking, “What’d I miss?” 

Ryo smiled softly. “Literally everything. Sett left to deal with something real quick so there's only us two left."

“Ashe?” 

“Took your bag to Sett’s room. And then I think he went on an errand or something.” 

So you’d been left here to sleep a little longer. Nice sentimentality aside, why? And that’s exactly what you asked. 

Your friend gave you a hand up and shrugged. “The Boss thought it might be best if you stayed here for the night.” He fixed you with a little stare over the shoulder. “Seeing as how you were tired enough to fall asleep on an uncomfortable chair in the middle of a fighting pit full of bad men and women.” 

Well, not much to say to that. You looped your arm through Ryo’s. “Maybe I felt safe enough to doze off. After all, my boys are such nice people.” 

He glanced down at you with a smirk. “Liar.”

“It’s your choice whether you believe the truth or not.” 

“Right,” Ryo rolled his eyes. “Well, this is far as I can escort you, my dear. I also have an errand to run for Sett.” 

You looked around with confusion. “This isn’t anywhere near Sett’s office. What happened to all the bad men and women in this pit I was so dumb to leave myself vulnerable around? That you were supposedly protecting me from?” 

“Don’t get all soft on me now,” Ryo smiled. “I believe in you.” He waved goodbye before heading off in the opposite direction of Sett’s office. 

With a smile still pulling at your lips, you walked down the halls of the pit, taking turns that had grown increasingly familiar over all your time here. It had been a good night. Or at least felt like it. Maybe that was the sleep talking. Indeed, your mind was still a bit fuzzy and you zoned out, navigating purely by memory. Which was probably the reason you didn’t notice a certain someone up ahead until it was far too late. 

“Hello rabbit.” 

Dryden was leaning against the wall in front of you, arms crossed and smiling happily. Bandages covered his bare torso and his right eye. They were clean so the infirmary must have done a pretty good job of sewing him up. But why was he here now of all times? 

“Dryden,” you greeted. “I caught tonight’s fight. Looked pretty rough.”

The Scourge dipped his head. “From an outside perspective like yours? I’m sure it did.” 

Something about the way he said that, so specifically, made your worries rise once again. Controlling yourself so as not to shift your weight, you politely lied, “I’m glad you’re all patched up though. I’m sure with some rest you’ll be back to fighting in no time.” A subtle hint that he should go home, sleep, leave you alone. 

“Right,” he smiled. Then back to what he was saying before, “I didn’t think the fight was too bad. These injuries?” Dryden patted his side and brushed his fingers across his face. “Thrilling. Pain is what makes a battle come to life.”

He’d pressed his hand _ in _ to his wound during the fight.

“I can’t help but enjoy it sometimes.”

He’d smiled when you’d carved his face. 

“But you know what I enjoyed most?” 

Dryden had pushed off the wall and was slowly nearing. You refused to move from your spot, refused to give him even an inch on you. Perhaps you still felt a bit like Reaper in that sense. You hadn’t yielded during the fight so you wouldn’t yield now. 

“I got to find out a secret no one else knows.” 

He neared until he was practically towering over you, staring down with slowly opening eyes. His smile became something sick as he twisted his head to the side and told you, “I know who the Reaper is~”

You ducked low and lashed a kick into Dryden’s injured side. The fighter collapsed without much of a fight, clutching at his reopened wound with a crazy smile. 

“That  _ hurt,  _ Reaper.” 

Panic squeezed your heart. You threw the Scourge into the wall, crouching to keep your grip on him as he slid down. Your knee sank into his stomach, forearm dug into his throat. He didn’t know -- couldn’t know. He was bluffing. But you were reacting. Eyes wide, heart racing, acting violent. What could you do? It was too late to play dumb. Your thoughts were muddled. You were acting on instinct. Acting on emotion. The worst bases to act on. 

Dryden didn’t struggle beneath you. He watched your panic with delight. 

So much fear. So much uncertainty. Were you prepared to kill? You didn’t want to. You should drag his ass back to Sett. Sett would know what to do with him. He’d been right. You’d been dumb. You should have hunted Dryden down and silenced him in the infirmary.

A slight wiggle from the man beneath you and your focus came back sharp enough to cut. A growl tore from deep within your chest. “Don’t move.” 

The Scourge smiled and ignored you. His hands set to work removing the bandages covering his eye. They fell away with his hands. You fell back at the sight. 

He had done something to his face. Encircling his right eye was a grotesque mass of scarred tissue. His skin was melted and raw in the vague shape of your reaping sickle. The cut wouldn’t have healed that fast. Dryden had sealed it shut somehow, sealed it shut with--

Your heart lurched. 

Fire.

He’d sealed it shut by literally melting his flesh together. He’d made his scar worse, more prominent, more  _ ugly  _ than you had ever intended. 

“Why?” you whispered.

Dryden smiled. “Because I’m yours now.” 

~

Sett heard her before he saw her. 

She stomped down the hall to his office and flung open the doors so hard they hit the wall and bounced back. But she was already on the move, making a beeline straight for the armchair Sett was sitting in. Her nails dug into the armrests of his chair and she leaned so far in he might have been able to kiss her if he’d been so inclined. Too bad her lips were curled in a snarl and her eyes spelled murder. It might have been scary if the Boss didn’t already know what he was about to get yelled at for. 

“Guess who I ran into on my way here,” Reaper growled.

“Who?” Sett asked.

“The motherfuckin’ Scourge of the pit!” 

With a stomp of her foot, Reaper whirled around and began pacing the length of the room. Her hands couldn’t settle. They ran through her hair, knocked against each other, clenched at her sides… This was something Sett didn’t think he’d ever seen from her before.

“He’s fucked himself up, Sett. He cauterized the scar I gave him, sealed it shut so it looks way more fucked up than I could have ever done myself.” 

And… Sett looked around. There was no one else here to see it. She was venting to him, the Boss realized. Used his name very casually with hardly any growl at all. She wasn’t mad at him.

“And he knows it was me. He knows I’m the Reaper. He knows…” 

She turned again. Glared. 

“Guess how he knew.”

Sett fought back a grin. “Your hold?” 

“Not even that,” she hissed. She marched right back over to Sett and thrust her right arm in his face. His eyes immediately found what she meant. The tiniest hint of a bruise still lingered around her wrist. The one that Ryo had mentioned and Sett said to leave alone. So things  _ were  _ gonna get interesting around here.

“That’s apparently what distracted the fucker during the fight.” She seethed, “That’s the reason I fucking won. He got distracted thinking about the implications of it so I…” Her shoulders drooped. Some of that fire seemed to leave her for a moment. 

The Boss felt the mood shift immediately. This wasn’t just her blowing off steam. Reaper shook her head violently, going back to pacing before Sett could even try to reach out. 

“And that’s not all! That’s not the end of my night of fuck ups!”

The angry crack of knuckles filled the room. “Dryden said he wasn’t even sure it was me. It made enough sense to him, yeah, and the bruise couldn’t be just a coincidence in this ‘world of fates’ but  _ I  _ sealed the deal by freaking out and kicking his ass to the fucking floor!” 

A shudder went through her entire body. Sett watched, deadly quiet and deadly serious. Reaper squatted down, hands folding over her eyes. 

Silence.

Slowly, the half-vastayan pit boss rose from his seat and walked over to the girl. He stood over her for a moment, waiting to be told to fuck off or go away. Neither happened.

He crouched down next to her. Didn’t look at her because he knew she would hate that, but Sett rubbed her back.

She wasn’t crying. Sett could hear her breathing normally, as quiet as ever. There were probably a lot of things she was upset about. He couldn’t presume to know any of the reasons besides what she’d already said. It was… unpleasant seeing her like this. It was different from the first time they’d met when she’d cried. This was somehow even more vulnerable, more personal. And more upsetting than ever to the pit boss.

After a bit, Reaper let out a sigh. 

“I should go back to my place.”

“Sure,” Sett agreed. “And let Dryden follow you home to watch you while you sleep.” 

“I can’t keep staying over,” she said.

“Because  _ you  _ always have to sleep on the uncomfortable couch and hardly get any sleep.”

A pause. 

“I don’t have any clothes to sleep in.” 

There’s a smile in her voice now, one she was trying to resist.

Sett straightened. “I had Ryo buy you something recently.” 

Reaper looked up with a squint. She took the hand Sett offered and asked very carefully, “What is it?”

The Boss merely nodded to his backroom, a smirk pulling at his mouth.

That girl of rage and storm glanced over her shoulder every other step, going beyond exaggerated suspicion and bordering on downright stupidity. Sett walked past her easily and she hurried to overtake him again, entering the backroom first. 

Candles lit up the room and for a moment she just looked around. Nothing ever changed in his room. Sett didn’t know why she always did that. But then she was back on track, looking with purpose -- and there it was on the bed. Her nightclothes. She approached slowly and held it up to the light.

“Oh, Sett. You shouldn’t have.” 

Her voice was monotone. Dead. She turned to him with her present in hand and Sett suppressed the urge to laugh by suddenly finding the wall very interesting. His smirk was still definitely visible though. 

“Hey,” Reaper snapped. “Don’t look away from your own stupidity. I  _ will _ kill you.”

So Sett looked. 

About three days ago, Sett had been out with Ryo to check on some… legitimate business. They were walking through the shopping district on their return trip to the pit when a certain store caught their eye. Or more specifically it caught Ryo’s eye and he commented on the merchandise which then made the Boss look over. Some inappropriate remarks were exchanged, some jabs flung at one another, etc. Normal stuff for the two. But then it slowly drifted into the not so normal. The names of their respective… interests were tossed into the mix and it ultimately ended in a bet that ended in a purchase that ended in this current situation. Specifically this spitting mad girl holding up a lacy, sheer, dark purple nightgown. Of the more racy variety.

It was hard for Sett not to laugh. Beautiful little Reaper looked so mad at him. Ryo had left a huge loophole in the bet that the Boss had taken full advantage of. Not only was this more fun for him, but it also meant the girl got her own little present tonight. 

“You’re out of your mind if you think I’m gonna wear this, Sett.” She tried to hurl the barely-there-nightgown at his face but it fluttered to the ground mid arc and landed kinda pathetically on the floor.

Sett met her eyes with a cunning grin that he knew would push her over the edge. 

Without even a huff of indignation, she turned on her heel and declared she was going home, safety be damned. “I don’t care if the Scourge  _ does  _ follow me there. It’s better than having to stay here with a stupid, boarish,  _ pig of a boss. _ ”

“Seems a bit redundant to me,” Sett drawled. 

“Idiots like you don’t deserve the effort of creative insults.”

“A shame. Even after I went through the trouble of acquiring a second choice of nightwear for you if this one wasn’t to your tastes.” 

She called over her shoulder, “I don’t want to see it--” And abruptly cut short when she saw what it was he’d actually gotten her. Pulled from the box next to the purple nightgown, a pair of black pants and a red long-sleeve shirt. Reaper’s mouth scrunched up at the sight. 

“It’s getting cold out there,” Sett grinned. “Thought you might like something warmer.” 

Something good. She had to put up with a lot of bullshit a lot of the time and, honestly, this lingerie bit was entirely for his benefit. So as equivalent exchange… 

Reaper marched back over and snatched the pajamas from Sett beforing storming off towards the bathroom. “I should just take these home and be done with you.” 

“But you won’t.”

The bathroom door closed behind her. Her voice carried through it, “Why’s that?” 

Sett leaned against the door, casually examining his nails. He knew he had her. “Because it’s dark out and you’re already in the shower.”

The water indeed turned on not a moment later and he heard Reaper curse under her breath. She regained composure in just a moment though, saying that fact was irrelevant. “And I’m perfectly capable of walking home at night. I’ve done so plenty times before.” 

“Mhm. But you didn’t have a creepy psychopath after you all those times before.”

“And whose fault is that, hmm? Who suggested I fight the Scourge? If you’re so worried about me, you could walk me home.” 

The Boss smirked to himself, resting his head back as he looked to the ceiling. “And then I’ll crash at your place. We’re still in the same predicament, sweetheart.” 

“Why are you crashing at my place?” Reaper asked. “Who’s agreeing to that?”

“I’m not walking home by myself after dropping you off.” 

“Why not?”

“It’s cold out there.” 

He could hear the amusement in her voice as she told him that “wouldn’t be a problem if you wore more clothes” and he gave the answer he always gave in response to that suggestion. 

“I hate sleeves.” 

“Poor Ionian baby,” she crooned. 

Sett smirked and turned around to face the door, hands on his hips. “Would you honestly want me to cover up? You always blush when I’m shirtless.”

“I blush because I have a sense of decency.” The water turned off and she stepped out of the shower. “Unlike some people.”

“You blush because you like it. And you’re mad that you like it.” 

“That’s horrendously false for multiple reasons.” Some things shuffled around the bathroom, presumably Reaper putting on her clothes and finishing up. There was a noticeable dip in the cadence of their conversation.

“Well?” Sett prompted. “Are you going to share these reasons?”

“Give me a second, idiot. I’m trying--”

“You can’t think of anything, can you?”

_ Something  _ happened in there. A bonk, a stumble, and she hissed,  _ “Asshole.”  _ If Sett had to guess, she probably stubbed her toe. The following silence only lent more weight to his theory. A moment later, she continued through gritted teeth feigning nonchalance, “Of course I can think of something. I’m just trying to word it in a way you can’t possibly refute.” 

A smile once again pulled at the Boss’s mouth. “Promise I won’t. Now out with it.”

She finally opened the door with a billow of steam that vaguely smelled of flowers. Clad in her new nightwear and arms akimbo with the Reaper’s bag slung over her shoulder, she announced, “I’ve got a sense of decency.” 

“That’s the same argument you used before.” 

“The truth doesn’t change.” And with that she breezed past Sett. She certainly had seemed to master the art of walking away with the last laugh. Those lessons with Ryo had done her good. Just not good enough. He knew exactly how to get a rise out of here even now.

Sett watched that wonderful girl of fire and storm walk away… and let out a low whistle. 

Reaper spun around to face him only to be met with fading laughter and the image of a victorious smirk behind the closed bathroom door. 

~

You still weren’t done being mad at Sett for that last bit. When Sett first went in the bathroom, you were determined to stand outside and wait for him. The water turned on and it soon became clear he wasn’t coming out anytime soon. You paced back and forth a bit until you got bored with that. Then you took a seat on the armchair that faced the bathroom door. Then being grumpy with crossed arms got uncomfortable and boring so you curled up, nestled against one of the armrests. 

And that’s where the mistake was.

Because now you were at risk of falling asleep. You could already feel your eyelids becoming heavy and the sleepy thoughts trying to convince you it was time for sleep. It had been a long day and now it was nighttime. You were exhausted from that spike of emotion earlier. You could scold Sett in the morning. There really wasn’t any point in staying up. This was just a bout of childish stubbornness. But you still wanted to thank Sett. He was an ass but you knew why he did stuff like that sometimes. 

Stupid Dryden. Stupid Reaper. Stupid father and anger and brain. 

You could feel the bottomless chasm of doubt and self-hatred yawn open to swallow you whole and quickly decided your peace of mind was way more important than anything else right now. You rolled over in the armchair and shut your eyes, humming an old folk song that was popular around this time of year. 

The words came easy and the tune sang soft. Within the first repeat of the song you were drifting off to a quiet sleep, unawares that someone, somewhere would pick up where you left off. 

~

Sett muttered the rest of the lyrics to himself as he finished in the bathroom. Here or there a hummed note would escape his throat as he imagined the melody coming to a close, but otherwise the pit boss didn’t sing. 

What a coincidence Reaper had chosen that song in particular. The Boss almost rolled his eyes. 

Fate could weave the stupidest patterns sometimes. 

Though known throughout all of Ionia now, that folk song had once been an ancient story passed down and sung among the vastaya. Then it was stolen from them just like everything else and tainted by the rest of the world and yada yada yada. Those were the complaints they were always spewing. Sett had heard them all before. Hadn’t cared then and didn’t care now. The only reason this song was even the slightest bit significant to him -- the reason why Sett thought fate was being just a bit too obvious in how it was tangling now -- was because his ma used to sing it to him.

So of course the Boss knew the words to the song and could hear the melody even over running water and through the closed bathroom door. The moment that girl hummed the first few notes he could already tell where things were going. And if he were in a better mood now, Sett might have thanked fate rather than curse it for this small coincidence. 

Sett was officially in a mood. The moment he was left alone without distraction he’d been bombarded with snarling thoughts all vying for his attention. He already knew he’d fucked up so it was infuriating his mind was trying to rub salt in that wound. 

He left the bathroom door open behind him and walked about his room. Shit still needed to get done in the pit. The consequences of tonight had to be dealt with. Sett was dressed to sit at his office desk for another good few hours and work his ass off. Maybe he wouldn’t sleep at all tonight. Maybe he would go out for a little moonlight hunt. There were still a few scumbags on Ryo’s list that needed to be dealt with. And blowing off some steam would do him good. Even a round in the ring would help. Maybe Reap would be up by then.

And the moment he allowed Reaper to enter his mind again, Sett paused at where she lay sleeping. Curled up in an armchair made for someone much bigger than her, she looked to be soundly asleep. Exhausted by the day.

‘Interesting.’

He had thought it would be interesting if Dryden got involved in their business. The Scourge would be useful to Reaper in the line of work she was taking up. Especially since she didn’t like hurting people. 

She was hellfire and rage. She was a stubborn, unstoppable force of nature that swept up every challenge presented to her. Sett had glimpsed her broken before but he thought she was past that. Broken bones healed back stronger. And she  _ was _ stronger now. But then tonight had shown there were still chinks in her armor.

Frustrating. That’s all this was. There had been a lapse in judgement and now Sett was gonna have to deal with it. Reaper would be fine. Stress, exhaustion, guilt -- these things were bound to catch up to her eventually. And she’d have to cope with it, same with everyone else who made their livelihood in a fighting pit. He wasn’t going to be the one to break her. The strongest blades were forged by the hottest flames.

Sett caught himself then, rolling his eyes. That’d been a really shitty cliche. Just how stupid could he get over this? She’d be fine after a night’s sleep. It was time for him to get to work. 

Ryo and Ashe had retired early for the night. That was fine but business didn’t stop for the Boss. He grabbed his brass knuckles off the dresser and headed out the door, but not before carrying Reaper to bed. 

It had been a day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is late, it was a clusterfuck, god is dead, expect nothing from me. 
> 
> I wish you all a decent year.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work and I'm rather pleased with how it's coming out. New chapters will be posted every now and then depending on how I'm doing and how the writing process is going. Also, this whole thing is pretty self-indulgent. I'm writing this basically for fun for me and sharing it with others so that you might enjoy it too.


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